Alexander Calder was a famous American abstract sculptor. He is best known for his mobile kinetic sculptures, his wire portraits and enlarged outdoor monumental sculptures. Famous Alexander Calder artworks include “Devil Fish”, “Arc of Petals”, “Red Mobile”, “La Grande Vitesse”, “Autumn Leaves”, “Poisson volant (Flying Fish)”, “Trois Disques”, “Floating Clouds” and “Lily of Force”.
Mini biography: Born Alexander Calder on the 22nd of July, 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania, United States of America (it could also be possible that he was actually born on August 22 according to family members). His mother Nanette Lederer was a portrait painter and his father Alexander Stirling Calder was a sculptor and art teacher. Calder married Louisa James in 1931 and they had two children together: Sandra and Mary. The artist died on the 11th of November, 1976 in New York City, NY, USA at the age of 78.
List of Famous Alexander Calder Art Quotes
The underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof. Alexander Calder
A knowledge of and sympathy with the qualities of the materials used are essential to proper treatment. Alexander Calder
The sense of motion in painting and sculpture has long been considered as one of the primary elements of the composition. Alexander Calder
The basis of everything for me is the universe. The simplest forms in the universe are the sphere and the circle. I represent them by disks and then I vary them. My whole theory about art is the disparity that exists between form, masses and movement. Even my triangles are spheres, but they are spheres of a different shape. Alexander Calder
The aesthetic value of these objects cannot be arrived at by reasoning. Familiarization is necessary. Alexander Calder
With a mechanical drive you can control the thing like the choreography in a ballet and superimpose various movements.. a great number, even, by means of cams and other mechanical devices. Alexander Calder
As truly serious art must follow the greater laws, and not only appearances, I try to put all the elements in motion in my mobile sculptures. Alexander Calder
When an artist explains what he is doing he usually has to do one of two things: either scrap what he has explained, or make his subsequent work fit in with the explanation. Alexander Calder
Each element can move, shift or sway back and forth in a changing relation to each of the other elements in the universe. Thus, they reveal not only isolated moments, but a physical law or variation among the elements of life. Not extractions, but abstractions. Abstractions which resemble no living things except by their manner of reacting. Alexander Calder
From the beginning of my abstract work, even when it might not have seemed so, I felt there was no better model for me to choose than the Universe. Alexander Calder
To me the most important thing in composition is disparity. Thus black and white are the strong colors, with a spot of red to mark the other corner of a triangle which is by no means equilateral, isosceles, or right. To vary this still further use yellow, then, later, blue. Anything suggestive of symmetry is decidedly undesirable, except possibly where an approximate symmetry is used in a detail to enhance the inequality with the general scheme. Alexander Calder
Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Nude descending the stairs’ is the result of the desire for motion. Here he has also eliminated representative form. This avoids the connotation of ideas which would interfere with the success of the main issue – the sense of movement. Alexander Calder
My entrance into the field of abstract art came about as the result of a visit to the studio of Piet Mondrian in Paris in 1930. I was particularly impressed by some rectangles of color he had tacked on his wall in a pattern after his nature. I told him I would like to make them oscillate, he objected. Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder Self-Portrait Wire Sculpture
More on Famous American Sculptor Alexander Calder
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Related or similar popular artists and celebrities include: Claus Oldenburg || Brancusi || Antony Gormley || Isamu Noguchi, and other Famous American Sculptors.
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