Alexander Calder Art Literacy Presentation

Objective: Students will learn the vocabulary of contemporary sculpture and build a Calder-style “Stabile” sculpture “maquette” size with different patterned and bright colored paper.




Vocabulary: sculpture, stabile, mobile, maquette





Artist Biography: Show Picture of Alexander Calder #1 (above)

Alexander (called “Sandy”) Calder was born in Pennsylvania in 1898 into a very artistic family; his father and grandfather were sculptors, and his mother was a painter. Calder had one sister. As a child, he had a workshop and used tools to construct toys and gadgets with bits of wire, cloth, and string. In 1902, at the age of four, Alexander completed his first sculpture - a clay elephant. In 1909, when he was in the fourth grade, Alexander sculpted a dog and a duck from a sheet of brass. The duck, which could rock back and forth, is one of his earliest examples of his interest in moving sculpture.

Although Calder's parents supported Alexander's creativity, they discouraged their children from becoming artists, because the life of an artist is often uncertain and financially difficult. In 1915, following his parents advice, Calder decided to study mechanical engineering. After finishing school Calder worked as an engineer for a short time but his interest in art never left him.


Calder decided to study painting in New York City. Later Calder moved to Paris in 1926 at the age of 28 to focus on making art. He took drawing classes and met other young artists there. Calder started making miniature circus animals and performers similar to the toys he invented as a child. He created a whole circus made of wire, cork, cloth, and string. Calder had invented a new type of sculpture. His new works were called mobiles because they move. Calder's engineering background came in handy as he experimented with different materials to balance and build his mobiles. In 1931 Calder married his wife Louisa James and they moved back to the US and bought a farmhouse in Connecticut. There they raised two daughters.


Calder still made regular sculptures, or “stabiles,” that sit firmly on the ground. Calder's stabiles are huge, bright, sheet-metal sculptures that are designed to fill city plazas, parks, and sculpture gardens. He started by making small models, or “maquettes,” of these works. He then worked with engineers and metal workers in factories to enlarge his models into enormous, finished works of art. One Calder stabile is 65 feet high!


Calder lived in both Connecticut in the United States and in France. In both locations he kept big, messy studios full of everything he needed to build sculptures. Alexander Calder died in 1976 at the age of 78. He created more than 16,000 works of art, including drawings, paintings, jewelry, tapestries, stage sets, mobiles, and stabiles.







Show Artwork:





Lone Yellow- #2:
· 1961
· Sheet metal with steel wire
· Sample of his “mobiles”-sculptures with movement









Big Bird- #3:· 1936- Maquette- small sculpture model (left): made of sheet metal, wire, & paint
· 1937- Full size “Stabile”-grounded sculpture (right): made of sheet metal, bolts, & paint

Le Guichet- #4 &#5:#4 (above)- Calder with maquette (small model) of future full size stabile
#5(below)- Full size stabile
*On display in Brooklyn (NY) Botanical Gardens
*1963
*Title means “the ticket window”
*Made of steel and painted black
*14 feet tall and 24 feet wide span

Eagle- #6· On display in Seattle, WA at the Olympic Sculpture Park
· 1971
· Made of steel painted orange
· 39 feet tall and 32 feet wide span

Project: “making a maquette out of paper”



What you need:
· Scissors for each student
· Different patterned and colored paper
- tape available



Step-1: Choose 4-5 pieces of paper to start with.


Step-2: Cut different shapes from the paper and write their name on one of them.



Step-3: Cut 1-2 inch slits in the ends of shapes, being careful NOT to cut all the way through, where you want them to fit together. Tape may be used if needed to make the sculpture sturdy.



Step-4: Fit together pieces and add any more needed/wanted to make desired “maquette.”