Alexander CalderDice, Gouache Painting by Alexander Calder 19741974
1974
About the Item
- Creator:Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976, American)
- Creation Year:1974
- Dimensions:Height: 37 in (93.98 cm)Width: 51 in (129.54 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Long Island City, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4667637442
Alexander Calder
The American sculptor Alexander Calder is known as the father of the mobile, a moving artwork composed of delicately balanced sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling.
Because Calder's parents, both artists themselves, did not want him to suffer the hardships of trying to make a living in art, they encouraged the young Calder to study mechanical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He worked a number of jobs, including as a hydraulic engineer and draftsman for the New York Edison Company, before deciding to pursue an artistic career. He never abandoned his engineering background, however, applying his understanding of gears and moving parts in all his artworks, from mechanical toys like the Cirque Calder (1931) and his revered prints to his free-standing abstract sculptures, called stabiles.
In 1926, Calder moved to Paris and established a studio in the Montparnasse quarter. He began creating the many parts of his famous miniature circus from found materials, such as wire, string, cloth, rubber and cork. Designed to be transportable, Cirque grew to fill five suitcases over the years. Always interested in putting forms in motion, Calder also pioneered a new art form called wire sculptures, which he described as “drawings in space.” Like his famous mobiles, the wire sculptures were suspended so that they turned with any movement of the air, presenting different forms when viewed from different angles.
In the 1950s, Calder returned to his roots in mechanical engineering, creating monumental abstract sculptures that verged on the architectural. He worked from loose gestural drawings like this preparatory sketch for his Man Stabile, from 1966. Throughout his career, he also worked as a set designer for the theater, as well as an illustrator and printmaker, producing vibrant, whimsical drawings for books and journals.
Find original Alexander Calder art today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Long Island City, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Statuette au Vase Jaune, painting by Fernand Leger c.1949By Fernand LégerLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Fernand Leger, French (1881 - 1955) Title: Statuette au Vase Jaune Year: circa 1949 Medium: Gouache on Paper, dedicated (a Nicole) l.r. Size: 5 x 5 ...Category
1940s Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- Kneeling NudeBy Mikhail TurovskyLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Mikhail Turovsky, Russian (1933 - ) Title: Kneeling Nude Year: circa 2000 Medium: Gouache and oil on paper, signed lower right Paper Size: 25.5 ...Category
Early 2000s Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Gouache
- Men Playing Cards, Painting by Joseph MarguliesBy Joseph MarguliesLocated in Long Island City, NYAn original Gouache painting measuring 16 x 20 inches by Joseph Margulies. The painting is signed lower right. Born in Vienna, Joseph Margulies becam...Category
1960s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsBoard, Gouache
- Restaurant Scene with BandBy Robert PhilippLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Robert Philipp, American (1895 - 1981) Title: Restaurant Scene with Band Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 12 x 15 in. (30.48 x 38.1 cm...Category
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- Standing FigureBy Benjamin G. BennoLocated in Long Island City, NYA shy and dirty man stands alone in a muted landscape, his hand timidly resting on his collarbone. His clothes are disheveled, a dark pair of overalls slouching across his too-narrow...Category
1930s Cubist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- Two Seated NudesBy Handel EvansLocated in Long Island City, NYArtist: Handel Evans, British (1932-1999) Title: Two Seated Nudes Year: 1972 Medium: Gouache on Paper, signed and dated l.r. Size: 9.5 x 12.5 in. (24....Category
1970s Futurist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- Mid Century "Driver with Hard Hat" Gouache and Oil Pastel Figurative 1960s SFBy Gloria DudfieldLocated in Arp, TXGloria Dudfield Driver with Hard Hat 1960s Gouache and Oil Pastel on Paper 27"x36" unframed $700 *Custom framing available for additional charge. Please expec...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsOil Pastel, Paper, Gouache
- Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (Grammy, Album Art, Iconic, Rock and Roll)By Kerry SmithLocated in Kansas City, MOKerry Smith Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy Mixed Media on Crescent board Year: 2018 Size: 21x20in Signed, dated by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1632 --------------------------...Category
2010s American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsMixed Media, Acrylic, Gouache, Board
- House Beautiful Cover Proposal. American Scene Social Realism Industrial WPABy Antonio PetruccelliLocated in New York, NYHouse Beautiful Cover Proposal. American Scene Social Realism Industrial WPA Antonio Petruccelli (1907 – 1994) Mixing Mortar 12 1/2 X 14 3/4 inche...Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache, Board
- Large Gouache Original Painting Mother & Daughter Sandu Liberman Israeli JudaicaBy Sandu LibermanLocated in Surfside, FLframed 36 X 28 board 30 X 21.75 Sandu Liberman (Romanian-Israeli) was born in Yasi, Romania in 1923. between 1946 and 1953 he took part in the state art shows in Bucharest. in 1952 ...Category
20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache, Paper
- Basketball PlayerBy Ben ShahnLocated in Fairlawn, OHBasketball Player Gouache on card stock, c. 1940 Signed by the artist in ink lower center A study for the fresco mural in the Social Security Buildin...Category
1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsGouache
- San Francisco Cable Car WPA Artist Adolf Dehn Modernist Art Gouache Oil PaintingBy Adolf DehnLocated in Surfside, FLADOLF ARTHUR DEHN (American, 1895-1969) San Francisco Bay Area street scene, with Trolley, Streetcar, Cable Car with bay and Alcatraz Island in background. Hand signed LRC. Sight 19" x 15", overall 23" x 19". Adolf Dehn (November 22, 1895 – May 19, 1968) was an American artist known mainly as a lithographer. Throughout his artistic career, he participated in and helped define some important movements in American art, including regionalism, social realism, and caricature. A two-time recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, he was known for both his technical skills and his high-spirited, droll depictions of human foibles. Adolph Dehn was born in 1895 in Waterville, Minnesota. He began creating artwork at the age of six, and by the time of his death had created nearly 650 images. Dehn went to the Minneapolis School of Art (known today as the Minneapolis College of Art and Design), where he met and became a close friend of Wanda Gag. In 1917 he and Gág were two of only a dozen students in the country to earn a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York. He was drafted to serve in World War I in 1918, but declared himself a conscientious objector and spent four months in a guardhouse detention camp in Spartanburg, SC and then worked for eight months as a painting teacher at an arm rehabilitation hospital in Asheville, NC. Later, Dehn returned to the Art Students League for another year of study and created his first lithograph, The Harvest. In 1921 Dehn's lithographs were featured in his first exhibition at Weyhe Gallery in New York City. From 1920 to 1921 in Manhattan, he was connected to New York's politically left-leaning activists. In 1921, he went to Europe. In Paris and Vienna he belonged to a group of expatriate intellectuals and artists, including Andrée Ruellan, Gertrude Stein, and ee cummings...Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Gouache
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Renowned for His Mobiles, Alexander Calder Was Also Adept at Crafting Modernist Jewelry
There are no sparkling gemstones on this necklace, but its value far exceeds the cost of its materials.
10 Must-Visit American Public Sculptures
Get your dose of Vitamin D while surveying works by the likes of Alexander Calder, Keith Haring and Pablo Picasso.