Items Similar to Calder Stabiles
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9
(after) Alexander CalderCalder Stabiles
About the Item
Calder Stabiles
Galerie Maeght Fine Art Poster Print
30 x 22 inches
31 x 23 inches with frame
Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976)
One of America's best known sculptors, "Sandy" Calder became most famous for his kinetic abstract mobiles. He also did floor pieces, was a painter in watercolor, oil and gouache, did etchings and serigraphs, and made jewelry and tapestries as well designed theater stage settings and architectural interiors.
His art reflects his reputation of being a beloved, decent human being who continually searched for fun and humor in that around him. He was highly independent from luxuries and focused on creativity. His last words, "I'll do it myself", tell the story of his life.
He was born in Philadelphia, the son of Alexander Sterling Calder and the grandson of Alexander Milne Calder, well-known sculptors of public monumental works. His mother, Nanette Lederer Calder, was a professional portrait painter. Obviously he was nurtured in an environment of art, and from an early age, he was making figures from found objects. Because of the father's ill health and the necessity for a drier climate, the family moved to Oracle, Arizona in 1905, and five years later to Pasadena, California. When Sandy was a teenager, the family returned to Pennsylvania.
He was unable to make a decision about a vocation, but his fascination with machines led to his earning a degree in mechanical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919. He tried a variety of jobs including working in the boiler room of a cruise ship. In 1923, he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York City, where his teachers were John Sloan, Guy Pene Du Bois, and Boardman Robinson. In classes there he did numerous oil paintings and also humorous drawings of sporting events for the National Police Gazette.
In 1925, he produced an illustrated book titled Animal Sketching, one-line drawings that foreshadowed his early wire sculptures of figures and animals. In 1926, encouraged by an engineer friend of his father to follow his talent, he went to Paris where he lived the next seven years and shortly after his arrival began doing wire sculpture. During this period, his mother gave him seventy-five dollars a month for living expenses.
He assembled a "Circus," of miniature, hand activated one-wire figures with which he gave performances in his studio. These pieces were made by bending and twisting a single wire into humorous portraits, animals, and figure groups.
He also met many of the leading avant-garde artists of the day including Piet Mondrian, who influenced Calder's geometric, non-objective constructions that he began producing in 1931. His floor pieces, named "stabiles" by Jean Arp, were exhibited in a gallery exhibition organized by Marcel Duchamp, who coined the word "mobile" for the hanging, kinetic pieces. Soon, Calder was creating many of these wind-driven works.
Calder's mobiles were first shown in the United States in 1932, and the next year he returned to America and purchased a home in Roxbury, Connecticut where he lived the remainder of his life and gained much attention from that time.
Dancer Martha Graham used several of his sculptures in her modern dance performances, and personnel at the Museum of Modern Art in New York began purchasing pieces from him including his first large-scale piece called Whale in 1937.
During World War II when metal was scarce, he made mobiles and stabiles from carved, painted wood, and in the early 1950s he added to his repertoire wall pieces and mobiles that incorporated sound. Many federal agencies and businesses commissioned works by him, and most major American museums have his pieces in their collections.
His death in 1976 occurred coincidentally with a major retrospective of his work at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Missouri, MO
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU747314093942
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Seller
These experienced sellers undergo a comprehensive evaluation by our team of in-house experts.
Established in 1970
1stDibs seller since 2017
141 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 21 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Missouri, MO
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Teres de Grand FeuBy (after) Joan MiróLocated in Missouri, MOTerres de Grand Feu Miro Artigas Galerie Maeght Fine Art Poster Print 30 x 21 inches 31 x 22 inches with frame Joan Miro (Spanish, 1893-1983) Joan Miro was born in Barcelona, Spain...Category
20th Century Surrealist Abstract Prints
MaterialsColor
- Hai-Ku SeriesBy Joan MiróLocated in Missouri, MOColor Lithograph Ed. 15/100 Signed and NumberedCategory
1960s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Soleil RecercleBy Hans (Jean) ArpLocated in Missouri, MOSoleil Recercle Color woodcut, 1966, on wove, Signed and Numbered ed. 50 Cat. Rais. Arntz Sheet Size: approx. 22 x 17.5 inches Framed Size: approx. 24 x 20 inches Jean Arp was a p...Category
1960s Modern Abstract Prints
MaterialsWoodcut
- Heart with ProfileBy Peter MaxLocated in Missouri, MOPeter Max Heart and Profile c. 2005 Serigraph with Acrylic Paint Hand Signed by the Artist Image Size: approx. 14 x 12.5 Frames Size: approx. 27 x 24.5 inchesCategory
Early 2000s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsAcrylic, Lithograph
- FramedBy Sam FrancisLocated in Missouri, MOFramed Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994) Edition 58/100 in pencil Lower Left Signed in pencil Lower Right 17 x 22 inches 25.5 x 30.5 inches An Abstract Expressionist* painter known ...Category
1960s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsColor, Lithograph
- Geometric Composition with Red DiamondBy Ilya BolotowskyLocated in Missouri, MOSigned and Numbered Ed. 125 The following is excerpted from The New York Times, August 6, 2001 by Daniel Watkin: "Shedding 7 Coats, a Beauty Emerges on a Hospital Wall" By DANIEL J...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
You May Also Like
- Monograph: Francis Bacon (hand signed and warmly inscribed by Francis Bacon)By Francis BaconLocated in New York, NYFrancis Bacon Francis Bacon (hand signed and warmly inscribed by Francis Bacon), 1975 Softcover catalogue with stiff wraps (hand signed and warmly inscribed by Francis Bacon) hand si...Category
1970s Surrealist More Art
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset, Felt Pen
- Mario Klinger, 4 Beings, 2005, Edition 1Located in Greding, DELambdaprint "4 Beings" behind glass on aluminum, edition 1. single size: 150 x 43 cm.Category
Early 2000s Abstract More Art
MaterialsLambda
- To Begin, Begin - 21st Century Contemporary Graphic Quote designed by Pia ClodiBy Pia ClodiLocated in Salzburg, ATTo Begin, Begin - 21st Century Contemporary Grafik Quote by William Wordsworth designed by Pia Clodi A graphic quote image designed by Pia Clodi, and produced as part of the Peache...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsBlack and White
- DaggeringBy Eddie PeakeLocated in 'S-GRAVENHAGE, ZHMedium: Viscose scarf with spray paint Size: 190 x 72 cm Edition of 75, each unique Comes in a presentation box with a artist signed COACategory
2010s More Art
MaterialsFabric, Spray Paint
- Florence Arnold (American 1900-1994) Color Screenprint - Signed and DatedLocated in Los Angeles, CAFlorence Arnold (American 1900-1994) hard-edge abstract color square Screenprint, pencil signed, dated, and numbered 14/25 Sized 16"x16". Florence Arnold began painting seriously...Category
1970s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsArchival Paper, Screen
- Florence Arnold Color Screenprint, Signed and DatedLocated in Los Angeles, CAFlorence Arnold (American 1900-1994) hard-edge abstract color square screenprint, pencil signed, and numbered 25/25 16"x16". Florence Arnold began painting seriously in 1947. By ...Category
1970s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsArchival Paper, Screen