Alexander Calder Biography

Philadelphia, PA, 22 July 1898 - New York, 11 Nov 1976

Sculptor, painter, illustrator, printmaker and designer, son of sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder, and best known as a pioneer of KINETIC ART.

Trained at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1919. In 1923, Calder began studying at the Art Students League in New York, where he was inspired by his teacher, John Sloan and began creating oil paintings.

He became a freelance artist for the National Police Gazette in 1924, sketching sporting events and circus performances. His first illustrated book, Animal Sketching (New York, 1926), was based on studies made at the Bronx and Central Park Zoos in New York.

In the early 1930s, Calder joined the ABSTRACTION CREATION group and soon produced his first abstract moving sculpture. He is best known for his large- scale public installations, both mobiles and stabiles, such as RED, BLACK, AND BLUE at the Dallas Airport.

SELECTED MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Museum of Modern Art, New York - National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC - National Gallery of Australia - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - National Gallery of Canada - Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC - Cleveland Museum of Art - Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC - Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland - Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid - The Smithsonian, Washington, DC - The Tate Gallery, London - Walker Art Center, Minnesota - Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

RELATED BOOKS

If you are interested in buying a specific piece by this Artist and are unable to find it here, please email us at customer@picassomio.com.

RELATED POSTERS