Calder: Early Mobiles





	Object with Red Ball, 1931 wood, sheet metal, wire, and paint 61 1/4 x 38 1/2 x 12 1/4 in. 155.6 x 97.8 x 31.1 cm Private Collection © 1998 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York view enlargement	"Though I had heard the word 'modern' before, I did not consciously know or feel the term 'abstract.'" - Alexander Calder from Calder: An Autobiography with Pictures, 1966.

	In the early 1930s, Calder's work took a radical turn toward abstraction and motion. In October of that year, Calder visited artist Piet Mondrian in his Parisian studio at 26 rue de Départ. The Dutch painter's walls were covered in various colored cardboard rectangles which prompted Calder to muse that it "would be fine if they could be made to oscillate in different directions and at different amplitudes." According to his autobiography, this particular visit gave him a "shock that started things."
	In 1931 Calder began making abstract kinetic sculptures, many of which incorporated hand-crank or motor devices. Two Spheres Within a Sphere (1931), for example, uses a small wire crank, which sets in motion the two wooden balls within the sphere. Likewise, Pantograph (1931) features a small motor that whisks red and black disks back and forth through the air. Although motion became an integral part of Calder's work at this stage, he never allowed the mechanism to overshadow the composition. As noted in Alexander Calder: 1898 - 1976,the National Gallery of Art exhibition catalogue, Calder specified: "Much better a poor machine and a good sculpture." During a visit to Calder's studio on the rue de la Colonie in 1931, fellow artist Marcel Duchamp became particularly fascinated by one of Calder's motor-driven sculptures. Duchamp suggested the term "mobile" -- in French, a pun that suggests both motion and motive -- to describe this work, as well as the new category of kinetic art to which it belonged. In February 1932, Calder: ses mobiles -- an exhibition arranged and named by Duchamp -- opened at the Galerie Vignon in Paris. This exhibition featured thirty-one "mobiles," including Object with Red Ball (1931), and Pantograph (1931).	Exhibition announcement for Calder: ses mobiles, 1932. Courtesy The Alexander and Louisa Calder Foundation, New York
	"Calder is the link between the evolution of American modernism and its European counterparts, especially in the school of Paris. He was the transitional figure, the bridge -- literally, by traveling back and forth -- but also by having an artwork that bridged that gap, between indigenous American modernism and what was developing in Europe." - David A. Ross, Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; excerpt from Antenna Audio gallery guide.
	Pantograph, 1931 wood, wire, sheet metal, motor, and paint 35 7/16 x 44 1/2 x 22 1/16 in. 90 x 113 x 56 cm Moderna Museet, Stockholm © 1998 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York view enlargement	Two Spheres Within a Sphere, 1931 wire, wood, and paint 37 1/2 x 32 x 14 in. 95.3 x 81.3 x 35.6 cm Private Collection © 1998 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York view enlargement
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	Copyright © 1998 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art