Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976) was a fantastic sculptor, most famous for his hanging mobiles, wire sculptures, and best of all his CIRCUS!

Calder is up there with my favourite artists of all time, mostly because of his child-like imagination as well as prodigious talent.

I don't want to be repetitive in the information that is already out there. Moreover, it's probably much more comprehensive than I could ever be if you want to know about his life, work and history. Therefore, for this purpose I supply a few links that I have found useful in the past:

• The wikipedia page (of course!)

• The Calder Foundation (This is a great website for information and pictures)

Calder had a fantastic exhibition in Paris at the Pompidou Centre entitled 'The Paris Years' in 2009. Unfortunately I never saw it but bought the exhibition catalogue last time I was there. 

Below are the pieces by Calder that I keep coming back to:

Goldfish Bowl, 1929

I love how this piece has his autograph sculpted into it, as do many of his others. I tried wire sculpture for a while but I just didn't have the right quality of wire (garden wire just wont do!). I will certainly try again though. If you know of a particular type that is good I would like to hear.

National Gallery III, 1972

And finally his circus. One way of really seeing the man's love for his circus is with the Youtube videos. They are probably the best way of seeing how the circus worked as something other than a static toy set.

If you have any other information (interesting links or exhibitions) on Calder, or have a particular favourites I would love to hear in the comments.

C.