Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976)

Alexander Calder was born July 22, 1898, in Pennsylvania, son of Alexander Stirling Calder and grandson of Alexander Milne Calder, both well-known sculptors. In 1919, he received an engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken. Calder attended the Art Students League, New York, from 1923 to 1926, studying briefly with Thomas Hart Benton and John Sloan, among others. As a freelance artist for the National Police Gazette in 1925, he spent two weeks sketching at the circus. In 1925, Calder published his first book, Animal Sketches, illustrated in brush and ink. He also made his first sculpture in 1925; the following year he made several constructions of animals and figures with wire and wood. Calder’s first exhibition of paintings took place in 1926 at the Artist’s Gallery, New York. Later that year, he went to Paris and attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In Paris, he met Stanley William Hayter, exhibited at the 1926 Salon des Indépendants, and in 1927 began giving performances of his miniature circus. The first show of his wire animals and caricature portraits was held at the Weyhe Gallery, New York, in 1928. That same year, he met Joan Miró, who became his lifelong friend. Miro’s influence in Calder’s work is immediately identifiable and vise versa. Throughout the rest of his life Calder divided his time between France and the United States. In 1929, Calder held his first solo show in Paris. He met other European masters including Frederick Kiesler, Fernand Léger, and Theo van Doesburg and visited Piet Mondrian’s studio in 1930. Calder began to experiment with abstract sculpture at this time and in 1931 and 1932 introduced moving parts into his work. These moving sculptures were called “mobiles”; the stationary constructions were to be named “stabiles.” He exhibited with the Abstraction-Création group in Paris in 1933. In 1943, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, gave him a solo exhibition.

During the 1950s, Calder traveled widely and executed Towers (wall mobiles) and Gongs (sound mobiles). Throughout his career Calder has won many prestigious awards including the Grand Prize for Sculpture at the 1952 Venice Biennale. Calder was always creating and focusing on the art of creation, at one point in time he would always carry with him a roll of copper wire and pliers to manipulate the wire and make small fantastical sculptures on a whim. He has experimented with many techniques and media including drawings, oil paintings, watercolors, etchings, gouache, serigraphy, sculpture, and motorized sculpture. Calder has been the subject of many retrospectives at prominent museums around the globe such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, during his lifetime and since his death. Calder died November 11, 1976, in New York.

American Fine Art Editions, Inc. represents this famed American artist in addition to a variety of other internationally acclaimed masters including: Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Joan Miro, Andrew Wyeth, LeRoy Neiman, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and more.  Visit our 12,000 sq. ft. showroom in Scottsdale, AZ or call today. Our website is offered only as a limited place to browse or refresh your memory and is not a reflection of our current inventory. If you need to learn more about collecting, pricing, value or any other art information your International Art Consultant will assist you and give you the one on one attention you deserve.  We hope you find our website helpful and look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale soon.