Alexander calder mini biography of christopher lee

Alexander Calder facts for kids Quick facts for kids.

Best known for his creation of the mobile, Alexander Calder is one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.

Alexander Calder July 22, — November 11, was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyze his work, saying, "Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn't be broadcast to other people.

Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. His birthdate remains a source of confusion. Calder's grandfather, sculptor Alexander Milne Calder, was born in Scotland, had immigrated to Philadelphia in , and is best known for the colossal statue of William Penn on Philadelphia City Hall's tower. His father, Alexander Stirling Calder, was a well-known sculptor who created many public installations, a majority of them in Philadelphia.

In he also completed his earliest sculpture, a clay elephant. In his father contracted tuberculosis, and Calder's parents moved to a ranch in Oracle, Arizona, leaving the children in the care of family friends for a year. The children were reunited with their parents in March and stayed at the Arizona ranch during that summer.

The windowed cellar of the family home became Calder's first studio and he received his first set of tools. He used scraps of copper wire to make jewelry for his sister's dolls. On January 1, , Nanette Calder took her son to the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, where he observed a four-horse-chariot race. This style of event later became the finale of Calder's miniature circus performances.

That Christmas, he sculpted a dog and a duck out of sheet brass as gifts for his parents. The sculptures are three-dimensional and the duck is kinetic because it rocks when gently tapped.