The name Alexander Calder (1898-1976) most likely brings to mind airy and abstract kinetic mobiles. The artist is best known for his innovative mobiles that harvest mechanical or air power, however his creations go far beyond just this. He was also a major pioneering figure in monumental public sculpture, mechanical miniatures, avant-garde jewellery and even transportation design.
Calder was born on 22 July 1898 into a family of artists. His father and grandfather were both well-known and commercially successful sculptors, his mother worked professionally as a portrait painter, and his sister was involved in the development of the UC Berkeley Art Museum.
Calder and the monumental and the very small sculpture
Early on, Calder followed in his parents’ (and grandfather’s) footsteps and created art. As a young boy, he showed an affinity, and great talent, for sculpture. However, his parents were afraid of an economically-uncertain future for their son and encouraged him to instead study mechanical engineering. After completing his studies at the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919, Calder worked for several years as a hydraulic engineer and draughtsman for the New York Edison Company. However, art continued to call him and he moved to New York to pursue a career as an artist. There, he enrolled in art classes and studied drawing and painting.
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In 1926, he moved to Paris to study art more seriously. During this time, he befriended a number of avant-garde artists, including Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Léger and Jean Arp. It was here that Calder began to create his first miniatures. These miniatures were often mechanical toys, such as the famous Cirque Calder – an entire travelling circus made of steel wire and found materials. These miniature mechanical toys were the precursor to Calder's later, more famous, kinetic steel wire sculptures.
In 1933, Calder moved back to the US. Here, he began creating his first monumental sculptures and large-scale outdoor mobiles using the same techniques and materials as his smaller Paris works.
In the 1950s, Calder began concentrating fully on producing monumental pieces. By the ‘60s, he was regularly commissioned for public works. Today, his monumental sculptures can still be viewed in public spaces all around the world, from Tel Aviv and Berlin to Montreal and Seattle.
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Calder and jewellery
With his kinetic works, Calder famously reinvented sculpture and explored its limits. However, Calder also found another three-dimensional medium where he could test his artistic philosophy – jewellery.
Over the course of his career, Calder created over 2,000 pieces of jewellery. These pieces were mostly made of brass and steel, but also used ceramics, wood and glass. Calder's designs were considered extremely unconventional, as they contained no precious materials or stones. His working method was also unique in that he never used soldering agents, instead relying on hammered and folded fasteners. His creations were often bespoke pieces, typically made with a particular person in mind during the design. Calder’s pieces drew the attention of the avant-garde in their search for something new.
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Throughout the twentieth-century, Calder's earrings, bracelets, necklaces and brooches were often spotted on prominent cultural icons including Georgia O'Keeffe and Peggy Guggenheim.
See more: The Imaginative Jewellery of Alexander Calder
Calder and the painted plane
One of Calder’s more unusual commissions was a full-sized painted aeroplane.
In 1972, the advertising agency Gordon & Shortt asked Calder to paint an airplane. At first, believing he was being offered the opportunity to paint a toy, Calder refused. When he learned he would in fact decorate a full sized machine, the artist immediately accepted. Calder was fascinated by the idea of transforming the machine into the world’s largest flying work of art. He painted the commercial aircraft, named Flying Colors of South America, for Braniff South American Airlines.
Calder and the car
Three years after the aeroplane, in 1975, the French auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain asked Calder to design a racing car. Poulain wished to race the vehicle in the famous 24-hour Le Mans race.
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Calder used his signature palette of primary colours for the BMW. "I want to see funny things that have no propaganda value," Calder explained in 1957 in a conversation with other artists in New York. When Calder died unexpectedly a year later, that BMW 3.0 CSL became one of his last works of art.
After his death, important artists followed in his footsteps and continued to design BMW Art Cars. Notable examples include Andy Warhol, A. R. Penck, Jenny Holzer, David Hockney and Jeff Koons.
Alexander Calder today
After Calder’s death in 1976, the Calder Foundation was formed to care for the cataloguing and organisational matters relating to Calder's works. His art is in many prominent collections across the globe, including The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Centre Georges Pompidou.
In 1998, the United States Postal Service honoured the artist with a set of five 32-cent stamps. He also received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1977.
Calder's works continue to be well-known across the globe and have sold for millions. His current auction record is his 1957 work Poisson volant, which changed hands at Christie's in May 2014 for $26 million (£15.3 mil).
So while Calder might be best known for his kinetic sculptures, he was an innovator well beyond this. His designs in transportation, jewellery, miniatures and monumental sculpture are testament to that.