Alexander Calder Awareness Post
- lilybdavies
- Nov 13, 2023
- 3 min read
Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976), was a sculptor known primarily for his large mobile pieces. His father was also an artist who took commissions that required the family to travel around for the majority of Calder's childhood. He attended the Stevens Institute of Technology, but after graduating he moved away from engineering and revisited art. He became an illustrator for the National Police Gazette, where he traveled around with a circus illustrating scenes from the shows. Remnants of Calder's two weeks with the circus are seen in his piece, Cirque Calder, an assemblage featuring performers and animals. Calder had his first solo show at the Weyhe Gallery in New York, and following this, his popularity grew. In 1931, he began creating his first mobiles. During WW2, the shortage of metal drove Calder to experiment with wood as his primary material in his sculptures. These wooden sculptures were referred to as "Constellations," because they suggested a "cosmos."
Where Calder drew his inspiration from was really interesting to me. He specifically stated that the idea of the mobiles had nothing to do with the engineering degree he received, which I think is really hard to believe. For me, finding inspiration is very difficult, so I would draw on something that I spent a lot of time doing or was very familiar with, but instead of doing that, Calder chose not to visit his engineering knowledge and instead draw from outside sources. This really illustrates the idea that there isn't a right or wrong place to find inspiration, but also it's important not to make assumptions about the origins of a piece, because it's very difficult to understand an artist just based on their work.
Alexander Calder, Calder's Circus (Cirque Calder), 1926 - 1931, Wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps
Alexander Calder, Double Gong, 1953, metal and paint
I really enjoy Calder's playful style, it gives a sense of nostalgia through vibrant colors as well as its form. I was interested in Calder's first very popular piece, Calder's Circus, which was designed to be bent a moved by Calder during exhibitions. It's inspired by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that he traveled with in 1925, and his child-like style is beginning to emerge. The idea that this piece was meant to be interactive is not unheard of, but I was intrigued because he had to be the one moving it during its shows, which certainly makes the viewers feel more connected to both the art and the artist. I think the browns of the circus were an interesting choice, especially considering the usual colors of a live circus and the overwhelming patterns. Still, the browns give the piece a sense of age, and with the gently fading colors, once again a calm sense of nostalgia. The circus feels rustic, precariously pieced together and seemingly quite fragile, it sharply compares to his later work, like Double Gong, which portray very different emotions. The colors used are more reminiscent of childhood than those in the circus, but it feels much more modern, which was likely because Calder drew much of his inspiration from his experiences and peers. I really like looking at the shift in his style as well as the things that inspire him.
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