Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania.. Calder constructed paintings based on Sloan's.. In 1930 he went to Paris, where he attended Académie de la Grande Ch
Trang 1Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania He had an artistic upbringing, as his father and grandfather were sculptures as well Both of his parents went to Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts Despite Calder's artistic upbringing, he didn't go
immediately to art He first studied mechanical engineering at Seven's Institute of Technology in Hoboken, where he got a bachelors degree in 1919 However, his engineering life wasn't going very well, so in 1923 he enrolled at the Art Students League in New York City It was there where
he found his greatest inspiration, John Sloan Calder constructed paintings based on Sloan's In
1924 he became a freelance artist for the National Police Gazette Then, in 1926 he published his first illustrated book, Animal Sketching
In 1930 he went to Paris, where he attended Académie de la Grande Chaumière There he discovered the art of Mondrian and Miró He started experimenting with abstract form In 1931
he exhibited his first brightly colored constellations, called mobiles, consisting of painted cutout shapes connected by wires and set in motion by wind currents One of these mobiles was called
"Universes." Because of all his works with wire, he started making wire sculptors
He also married Louisa James in this year, who was the grandniece of author Henry James Together, they (Louisa and Alexander) had two children With his new family, he moved to Roxbury, Connecticut After that, he spent more time in America then in Europe He started designing costumes and sets for ballets In 1937 he constructed "Whale" which was his first stabile He also constructed a mercury fountain for the Spanish Pavilion of the Paris Exposition
He called this piece an aquatic ballet He continued making water stabiles throughout the rest of his life
Many of his later works are huge, heavy, and delicately balanced mobiles produced for public buildings throughout the world Calder is also noted for his book illustrations and stage sets He had studios in Roxbury, Connecticut, and Paris He died the 11th of November, 1976 at the age of 79