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Alexander Calder

1898, Lawton, United States  – 1976, New York, United States

 

Red Polygon, 1961

Metal, red flat oil paint

Mobile sculpture with variable dimensions

Acquisition: Donated by the artist, 1964

Reference: 00999

 

In 1964 Boris Petkovski, the first director of the MoCA Skopje, addressed Calder, and in the letter, he stated a request to receive his work as a gift to newly established Museum of Contemporary Art. The answer came promptly and included in it was the artist’s wish to meet and choose the work in person. At their meeting in Calder’s atelier in Saché, village in France, Calder’s decision was to donate one of his mobiles. Additionally, surprised by the modesty of Boris Petkovski, the artist decided to donate another work, a gouache which he dedicated to the city of Skopje.

Biography

Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static “stabiles”, and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyze his work, saying, “Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn’t be broadcast to other people.”

This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.

The full article is on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Calder

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