Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Growing up his parents who were artists, encouraged Calder and his siblings to make art; even though they did not want them to become artists. He trained as a mechanical engineer and received a degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919. For the next several years he worked many different engineering jobs, such as assistant to a hydraulics engineer and engineer in a Canadian logging camp, but he didn't like any of the jobs.

After seeing one early morning sunrise he was inspired and decided he would be an artists. He then moved back to New York and enrolled in the Art Students' Leugue. After graduating Calder moved to Paris, taking a wire model circus that he made in the school with him. In Paris he presented shows with his mini circus.

In 1931 alexander Calder met and married his wife, Louisa James. The had Two daughters; Sandra and Mary. In 1933 they moved into a farmhouse they purchased in Roxbury, Connecticut, where they raised their family. In 19433 Calder had a retrospective exhibition held in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

In the 1950's Calder concentrated on producing monumental sculptures. They included the .125 at the JFK Airport, the La Spirale in Paris, and his largest scupture, the El Sol Rojo; created for the Olympics in Mexico. In 1973 Alexander Calder painted a full DC-8 as well as the Boeing 727 in 1975. On November 11, 1976 Calder died. He died shortly after the opening of a major retrospective show in New York.