Alexander Calder Overview

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder was one of America’s greatest sculptors. Alexander, or Sandy (his nickname) began by making wire sculptures like this face. Sandy experimented with his wire sculptures and added other materials to his work. Sometimes Sandy would paint pictures to get ideas for his sculptures. But, Sandy is best known for his mobiles. A mobile is a sculpture that moves. Here are some examples of Sandy’s mobiles… Sandy made his mobiles out of metal and wood. He used wires to hold the pieces. After Sandy invented the mobile, he invented another kind of sculpture. He called them Stabile-Mobiles. Stabile means the part that stays still. Mobile means the part that moves. This is a stabile-mobile. Can you guess which part moves and which part does not move? Here are two more stabile-mobiles. It was very important that Sandy understood math and balance. The wire and metal in each mobile be perfectly balanced. Otherwise the wire could get tangled or pieces could fall down. This mobile that Sandy made hangs in our nation’s National Gallery of Art. The End!