Born July 22, 1898 in Lawton, Pennsylvania to a family of artists, Alexander "Sandy" Calder was an abstract artist most known for his metal work sculptures containing vibrant emotion driving colors. But Calder was much more experienced than what he is usually accredited for. Calder was born into the world of Art as the second child of his sculptor father and painter mother. Although Alexander didn't quickly find solace in the metaphysics of the standard art his family was known for, it was apparent that it would play an important role in his future; in fact it was in his blood line. His grandfather Alexander Miline Calder is most famous for his William Penn sculpture that stands upon City Hall overlooking Philadelphia. And his father Alexander Stirling Calder was also most famous for his prolific statues of important historical figures.
Despite his talents, Calder did not originally set out to become an artist. He dabbled in other areas first such as engineering, even earning a degree in that field from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. But it wasn't long after until Calder realized his passions and decided upon a life in art. Calder had tried to touch almost areas of art working with sculptures, paintings, jewelry, and large outstanding monuments. Most of Calder's works are vibrant in color such as red and are usually trying to convey emotion in some way. But most notably Calder is known or employed for his sculptures. Calder's massive metallic abstract sculptures could be found all over the world. And although they lacked complexity in design, they more than made up for it in emotion. It was through the examples of his own art that its clear that Calder believed that the simplest things in life could be responsible for evoking the most response or emotions from us. He utilized his genius and eventually changed the course of all modern art. Calder developed a new method of sculpting by bending and twisting wires. He creation was based around the ideas of stationary motion. He named his newest creation a "mobile."
Below is a video example of one of Calder's "mobiles" that once stood in a Philadelphia parkway:
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