Alexander Calder

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Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was an American artist best known for his invention of the kinetic sculptures. Calder also produced a variety of two-dimensional artworks including lithographs, paintings, and tapestries. “My whole theory about art is the disparity that exists between form, masses, and movement,” the artist once said. Calder moved to Paris in 1926, where he was introduced to the European avant-garde through performances of his Cirque Calder (1926–1931). “I was very fond of the spatial relations,” he said of his interest in the circus. “The whole thing of the—the vast space—I’ve always loved it.” Today, his works are held in the collections of  The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Gallery in London.