Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder (July 22 1898 – November 11 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to mobile and stabile sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, and tapestry, and designed carpets.

Selected works

• Dog (1909), folded brass sheet. Made as a present for Calder's parents.
• The Flying Trapeze (1925), oil on canvas, 36 x 42 in.
• Elephant (c. 1928), wire and wood, 11 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 29.2in. A figure in the Cirque Calder
• Aztec Josephine Baker (c. 1929), wire, 53" x 10" x 9". A performing figure in the Cirque Calder, and a representation of Josephine Baker the exuberant lead dancer from La Révue Nègre at the Folies Bergère.
• Untitled (1931), wire, wood, and motor. One of the first kinetic mobiles.
• Feathers (1931), wire, wood, and paint. First true mobile, although designed to stand on a desktop.
• Cone d'ebene (1933), ebony, metal bar and wire. First suspended mobile.
• Form Against Yellow (1936), sheet metal, wire, plywood, string, and paint. Wall supported mobile.
• Mercury Fountain (1937), mercury, resin.
• Devil Fish (1937), sheet metal, bolts, and paint. First outdoor, garden stabile.
• 1939 New York World's Fair (maquette) (1938), sheet metal, wire, wood, string, and paint.
• Necklace (c. 1938), brass wire, glass, and mirror
• Sphere Pierced by Cylinders (1939), wire and paint http://www.calder.org/SETS_SUB/work/work_type_html/stabile_html/work_frame_A00682.html the first an many floor standing, life size stabiles (predating Anthony Caro's plinthless sculptures by two decades.)
• Lobster Trap and Fish Tail (1939), sheet metal, wire, and paint. Suspended mobile, design for the stairwell of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Black Beast (1940), sheet metal, bolts, and paint. Freestanding plinthless stabile.
• S-Shaped Vine (1946), sheet metal, wire, and paint. Suspended mobile.
• Sword Plant (1947) sheet metal, wire, and paint. Stabile.
• Snow Flurry (1948), sheet metal, wire, and paint. Suspended mobile.
• .125 (1957), steel plate, rods, and paint
• La Spirale (1958), steel plate, rod, and paint, 360" high. Public monumental mobile for Maison de l'U.N.E.S.C.O., Paris.
• Teodelapio (1962), steel plate and paint, monumental stabile, Spoleto Italy
• Man (1967) stainless steel plate, bolts, and paint, 65' x 83' x 53', monumental stabile, Montreal Canada
• La Grande vitesse (1969), steel plate, bolts, and paint, 43' x 55' x 25', Grand_Rapids,_Michigan.
• Cheval Rouge (Red Horse), (1974), red painted sheet metal, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
• The Red Feather, (1975), black and red painted steel, 11' x 6'3" x 11'2", The Kentucky Center.
• Untitled (1976), aluminum honeycomb, tubing, and paint, 358 1/2 x 912", National Gallery of Art Washington.
• Mountains and Clouds (1976), painted aluminum and steel, 612 inches x 900 inches, Hart Senate Office Building