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Mobile: Horizontal Black with Red Sieve

Mobile: Horizontal Black with Red Sieve

Artist: Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976)
Date: 1957
Dimensions:
(Approx.) H: 5 1/2 ft. (153.7); L: 9 in. (22.9 cm)
Medium: Painted sheet steel and wire.
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Museum Purchase
Object number: 1960.27
Label Text:Alexander Calder perfected a new form of abstract sculpture based on motion: the mobile. This invention of the early 20th century marks the maturation of kinetic art, an art form that focuses specifically on movement. Calder assembled metal disks of different shapes and sizes—painted red, blue, yellow, black, or white—and attached them to rods and wires. The resulting delicately balanced construction interacts with the space around it, perpetually reinventing itself as air currents move its elements.

The rhythmic patterns—unpredictable and ever-changing—are as important to the overall composition as the shapes themselves and require a certain amount of time to witness. Calder’s incorporation of chance, time, playfulness, and humor into his mobiles liberated and significantly influenced succeeding 20th-century artists.

See Stegosaurus, one of Calder’s “stabiles” (a non-moving sculpture), on the Museum’s Monroe Street terrace.
DescriptionPainted red and black.
On view
In Collection(s)