Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder, born in 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania, came from a family of artists: his father, Alexander Stirling Calder, and his grandfather, Alexander Milne Calder, were sculptors, and his mother, Nanette Lederer Calder, was a painter. He trained as an artist at the Art Students League of New York from 1923–25. Considered one of the foremost sculptors of the twentieth century, Calder left his mark in the public space with his “mobiles” and “stabiles.” The latter word, coined by Jean Arp, refers to Calder’s stationary works. In his later years, he made monumental stabiles composed of simple forms anchored to the ground, which are found, among other places, in Berlin, Chicago, Jerusalem, Paris, Mexico City, and Seattle. Alexander Calder died in New York in 1976.