(American, 1898 – 1976)
Calder is a leading sculptor of 20^th century abstract art, who invented the Duchamp-named mobile (his stabiles were named by Arp).  He was originally an engineer, and his mobiles can be seen as a marriage between engineering and sculpture.  His paintings and prints were influenced by his great friend Miró, with whom he spent many holidays and sojourns in Spain and France , as a satellite member of the School of Paris.  Like Miró, Calder manages to concoct abstract forms that convey true emotion and “personality.”  His main home and center of influence was New York . 

He is remembered fondly for his famous Circus, an entire universe of bent-wire figures, devised so as to be able to carry out in puppet-like form the feats of circus performers.  Audiences around the world would gather together at informal presentations, whence the artist would give a performance of his troops.  His mobiles in metal wire are notable for their polychrome color and delicate balance, somehow simultaneously reminiscent of paleontological remains, tribal art or space-aged algorithms.  Of them, he said he had wanted to make “moving Mondrians.” His sculptures in welded metal would go on to influence generations of innovators from Mark di Suvero to Anthony Caro and Richard Serra.  His jewelry designs are stunning for their fusion of gem beauty and sculptural whimsy but are largely unknown, having been done primarily for his wife and friends.

Public Collections and Shows

Honolulu Museum of Fine Art , Hawaii , 1937
Stedelijk Museum , Amsterdam , Holland , 1949
Venice Biennale, One-Man Show 1954
Montreal Expo , Canada , 1967
Museum of Modern Art , New York , NY
UNESCO, Paris , France
National Museum of Modern Art, Paris
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Caracas , Venezuela
National Gallery ,Washington, D.C.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Kennedy Airport, Queens, New York
Tate Gallery, London, England
National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland
Fine Arts Gallery, Leeds , England