The artist of this sculpture completed a degree in mechanical engineering before studying at the Art Students League in New York. How does this work change when it is displayed outside as opposed to inside? Do you think a reproduction by way of a photograph adequately reflects the sculpture? Why or why not? What other ways of making sculpture do you know?Įxplain how the work changes when viewed three-dimensionally or two-dimensionally. The artist designed a maquette which was then enlarged and poured into a mold at a foundry. The work is made of steel and painted bright red. How might this have been made and what might it be made of? What does ‘negative space’ mean in the light of this artwork? Negative space is the space around and between the subjects of an image. The empty space in and around an object balances its more massive triangular area. What effect does the size of the sculpture have on you (it is 120 x 240 x 120 in.)? Does its size relate to the subject of the work? Why (not)? Consider also its color.ĭoes this sculpture convey movement or stability, or both? Explain highlighting its different parts. The sculpture, with its curving, pointed, long, and delicate legs, represents a crab. The curving lines recall the awkward, scuttling motion of a crab. Point out other features of a crab that are reflected in this sculpture. Without looking at the title, what do you think the sculpture represents? Describe lines: are they straight or curved? Horizontal, vertical or diagonal? Look at the artist’s use of lines in this sculpture. Are they geometric shapes? Why or why not? 304-5.ĭescribe the different shapes in this sculpture. Jean Lipman, Calder’s Universe (New York: Viking Press in cooperation with the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1980), pp.He may be most famous for his mobiles, which he began creating in 1932, and for his stabiles, like The Crab, which are installed in public spaces in cities around the world. In the Circus are the elements of motion and abstraction, the subject of animals, and a playful quality found in much of Calder’s art. In the 1920s, while living in Paris, he began work on his famous Circus, a collection of wire, wood, and metal sculptures of animals and performers that Calder would bring to life in performances. His family encouraged his talent and helped him turn the basement of their home into a studio.Ĭalder completed a degree in mechanical engineering before studying at the Art Students League in New York. At a very young age, Calder began making toys, small wire people and animals, and jewelry for his sister’s doll. His mother was a painter and his father and grandfather were sculptors. And that does it.¹Īlexander Calder was born into an artistic family. After that they work out my ideas on the bracing. When the enlargement is finished, provisionally, I go to add ribs and the gussets, or other things which I hadn’t thought of. As soon as I’m satisfied with the result I take the maquette to my Biemont friends… and they enlarge the maquette as much as I want. With that I’m free to add a piece, or to make a cutout. I make a little maquette of sheet aluminum, about 50 cm high. In discussing the fabrication process for his stabiles, Calder said: The vivid red color lends a lively, playful air to the sculpture. They also define a negative space, the empty space in and around an object, which balances the more massive triangular area. The curving lines create a sense of movement and also recall the awkward, scuttling motion of a crab. Two large pieces of metal, placed at right angles, anchor The Crab, from which extend four long, slender, arching forms. While first ridiculed by the Houston press when acquired in 1962, The Crab has now become a signature work of art for the museum and the city. Calder called this kind of work a stabile, because unlike his famous mobiles, it stands still, and its parts are stable. This playful, sculpture by Alexander Calder, with its curving, pointed, long, and delicate legs, represents a crab.
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