Alexander Calder, (born July 22 or Aug. 22, 1898, Lawnton, Pa., U.S.—died Nov. 11, 1976, New York, N.Y.), U.S. sculptor. He was the son and grandson of sculptors, and his mother was a painter. He studied mechanical engineering, receiving a degree in 1919, and in 1923 attended the Art Students League in New York City, where he was influenced by artists of the Ash Can school. In 1924 he was a sketch artist for the National Police Gazette. In 1926 Calder moved to Paris and began making animals and circus performers of wood and wire; from these he developed Cirque Calder (1926–31), a miniature circus of mechanical figures. In the 1930s he became well known in Paris and the U.S. for his wire sculptures, as well as for portraits, continuous-line drawings, and abstract, motor-driven constructions. Calder is best known for his breakthrough creation of the mobile, a forerunner of kinetic sculpture. He also constructed nonmovable sculptural works known as stabiles. Although Calder’s early mobiles and stabiles were relatively small, he increasingly moved toward monumentality in his later works. His art was recognized with many large-scale exhibitions.
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