As we mark the 128th birthday of artist Alexander Calder, explore how a mechanical engineer became a master of modern art.
Alexander Calder is undoutedly most famous for his invention of the mobile - not the one that rings in your pocket, but a sculpture set in motion by both creativity and mathematics.
Since Calder's father and grandfather were both artists, you might expect him to follow in their footsteps. However, knwoing that the artist's lifestyle can be a struggle, he drifted away from family tradition and went to study mechanical engineering. That simple decision unknowlingly reshaped his entire career.
Figure 1: Alexander Calder, La Mémoire élémentaire (Elementary Memory): Plate 11
Calder's mechanically engineered kinetic sculptures were what gave him his greatest success, however they were unavailable to most people. This is where lithography came in. Using this form of print making was not a departure from sculpture, it was instead another way of interpreting Calder’s visual language for the wider world. Bright colours, geometry and the way each piece is constructed, and how each individual shape and colour interact, create works that display movement and energy. The lithographs demonstrate that Calder's specific talent can also exist just as powerfully on paper as when it is suspended in the air. His lithographs encapsulate his visual language within a different context.
Figure 2: Alexander Calder, Le Bateau Lavoir, 1969
FIG 1: As a part of our summer exhibition we have two of Calder's lithographs on display. The first image is a prime example of how Calder brings movement to a flat artwork. He controls the viewer’s perspective by creating a striking split coloured central pyramid, pulling the viewer into the landscape, with the black and white lines drawing the viewer further in. These simple lines and primary colours may have a child-like feel to them, but closer inspection reveals the great technical skill and thought that has gone into this piece.
FIG 2: 'Le Bateau Lavour' or The Watchouse. A rickety building in Paris that saw some of the most monumental artists of the modern age grace its halls. This piece showcases a dramatic lunar landscape; not bright like the previous work, but atmospheric and dramatic. There is a balancing act going on here, the central towering pyramid holding up a sphere, mimicking calders lifelong battle to master the balance of his kinetic mobiles.
View the Summer Show until August 31st 2026
