Alexander Calder

American sculptor, painter, and designer
American, (1898–1976)
Calder graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After taking classes at the Arts Students League, he became a freelance artist and illustrator, and published a book titled Animal Sketching. In the 1920s, Calder began traveling to Paris, becoming influenced by the work of Klee and Miró. In 1930, after visiting Piet Mondrian's studio, he began to create abstract constructions incorporating biomorphic forms, specifically with variations on the mobile, for which he is most known. Calder divided his time between trips abroad and his farm in Roxbury, Connecticut, and as his commissions grew more frequent, his mobiles became increasingly gigantic. Examples are Flamingo, the stabile at Federal Center Plaza in Chicago, and La Défense, at the Rond Point de La Défense Métro station in Paris.