Art Discovery: Introducing Alexander Calder

Calder in his Paris studio, 14 Rue de la Colonie, fall 1931. Photograph by Marc Vaux

Nate Burgos writes in his piece Alexander Calder's High-Wire Act:

Sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was fond of metal wire. It was a boundless medium for him. He invented hanging moving sculptures called mobiles, in which objects, typically abstract shapes of colored sheet metal, are arranged by wire. He constructed figurines of varied materials, from cork to wood, mostly wire, that became the illustrious cast for an assembled performance piece of a circus, dubbed Cirque Calder (see the 1961 film by Carlos Vilardeba). He is widely known for his monumental works of metal in America and Europe, but he also made hundreds of pieces of jewelry, crafted of wire in the form of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and tiaras. In Calder’s hands, wire was a pliable extension of his imagination.