American sculptor. Calder was born into a family of artistic background, but was originally more interested in engineering. He attended the Stevens Institute of Technology where he pursued engineering, and eventually enrolled in the Art Student’s League in New York and began working as a freelance illustrator. During this time, he also began painting and sculpting. Had his first solo show in New York, then departed for Paris where he began working on one of his best known projects: “Calder Circus.” He brought his “Circus” back to the United States in the early 1930s and became interested in Surrealist painting, particularly the works of Joan Miro and Piet Mondrian. From this attraction to form and color, Calder began to express these fundememtal elements of design using aluminum and wire. His internationally acclaimed sulptures included smaller "mobiles," and larger "stablies." His sculptures often used the natural forces of wind and water to make them kinetic. Calder's first major show was at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943. Over the span of his career, Calder has created thousands of works including monuments for the Lincoln center in New York and UNESCO in Paris.
