Oil painting -> List of Painters -> Alexander Calder

Early days: Alexander Calder also known as  Sandy Calder  was born in Lawnton, Pennsylvania, on July 22,1898. He is an artist mainly known for his sculptors.He was the son  of Alexander Stirling Calder, who  was a renowned sculptor  who formed  several  public installations, a major part of them in Philadelphia. Calder’s mother, Nanette Lederer Calder, was a skilled portrait painter who was educated at the Académie Julian and the Sorbonne in Paris from 1888 upto 1893. Though Calder’s  parents were artists,they discouraged their son from entering this field as they were aware of the financial difficulties involved in  this  area.He however took different routes in his career from taking up mechanical engineering to joining  the Student’s Army Training Corps, Naval Section, at Stevens. However when Calder took up a job as a timekeeper at a logging camp,the beautiful  mountain landscape stirred him to write home to request paints and brushes. Immediately after this, Calder decided to take up a career as an artist.

Career:

Once he made up his mind to become an artist, he shifted to New York  and joined the Art Students' League. He worked for the National Police Gazette while he was still a student  where,in 1925, one of his coursework was sketching the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Calder became extremely captivated with the circus theme.Calder created  his Cirque Calder, a diminutive circus shaped from wire,string, rubber, cloth, and objects he obtained .This art piece  was portable and Calder gave ornately improvised shows, recreating the performance of a real circus. So Cirque Calder became accepted  and popular with the Parisian avant-garde.

In 1928, Calder presented  his initial solo show  which was held at a commercial gallery at the Weyhe Gallery in New York City.His initial solo museum exhibition was held in US  at  The Renaissance Society  at  the  University of Chicago.His initial  first solo show of wire sculpture was conducted  in Paris at Galerie Billiet in the year 1929.

Calder formed a sculpture known as WTC Stabile (a.k.a Bent Propeller) , which in 1971 was installed at the entry of the World Trade Center's North Tower.When Battery Park City opened, the sculpture was shifted  to Vesey and Church Streets.The sculpture  stood in front of  7 World Trade Center when it was shattered on September 11, 2001.

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