Alexander Calder

I didn't realize that someone was credited with creating the mobile, so I was interested finding this was true for Calder. I am most draw to his wire frame face sculptures and his drawings and paintings. He was friends with many of the avant garde artists like Marcel DuChamp, Joan Miro, and Jean Arp. I can see similarities with his work and Miro's work with the movement and melodious forms.

He was born in Pennsylvania in 1898. His entire family was immersed in the art world, his father a sculptor, mother an artist, and sister instrumental in the UC Berkeley Art Museum.

He was discouraged from becoming an artist and studied engineering. He became fascinated with circuses after doing sketches for a newspaper of the Ringling Brothers.

In 1926, he moved to Paris. His Cirque Calder was popular among the French avant-garde. He moved back to the US a year later and stayed very active building sculptures on various different scales throughout his life (including large sculptures in major cities around the US).