Portrait of Alexander Calder 1947 July 10
Alexander Calder(1898-1976)
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor of the modern period. He is best known for his colorful, whimsical abstract public sculptures and his innovative mobiles, which embraced chance in their aesthetic.
Born into a family of accomplished artists, Calder's work first gained attention in Paris in the 1930s and was soon championed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, resulting in a retrospective exhibition in 1943.
Although primarily known for his sculpture, Calder was a prodigious artist with a restless creative spirit, whose diverse practice included painting, miniatures (such as his famous Cirque Calder), children's book illustrations, theater set design, jewelry design, tapestries and rugs, and political posters.
Calder was honored by the US Postal Service with a set of five 32-cent stamps in 1998, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously in 1977, after refusing to receive it from Gerald Ford one year earlier in protest of the Vietnam War.
Born into a family of accomplished artists, Calder's work first gained attention in Paris in the 1930s and was soon championed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, resulting in a retrospective exhibition in 1943.
Although primarily known for his sculpture, Calder was a prodigious artist with a restless creative spirit, whose diverse practice included painting, miniatures (such as his famous Cirque Calder), children's book illustrations, theater set design, jewelry design, tapestries and rugs, and political posters.
Calder was honored by the US Postal Service with a set of five 32-cent stamps in 1998, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously in 1977, after refusing to receive it from Gerald Ford one year earlier in protest of the Vietnam War.
Alexander Calder adapted from Wikipedia and licensed by The Cultural Me under CC BY SA 3.0