Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and mechanical engineer who revolutionized 20th-century sculpture by introducing actual physical movement into the medium. Trained in engineering before studying art, Calder moved to Paris in the 1920s, where he created his legendary miniature performance piece, Cirque Calder.

Marcel Duchamp coined the term 'mobiles' for Calder's suspended, delicately balanced wire and sheet-metal constructions that drifted on gentle air currents, while Jean Arp dubbed his stationary outdoor metal sculptures 'stabiles.' Calder's bold primary-colored monumental stabiles grace civic centers, airports, and public plazas worldwide, embodying an infectious spirit of playfulness, geometry, and buoyant elegance.