Calder-isms

by Calder, Alexander

ISBN: 9780691275116

Published: 2025-09-16

A dazzling collection of quotations from the modern American artist whose mobiles are beloved worldwide Calder-isms is a collection of fascinating, irreverent, and often profound quotations from the influential modern American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898–1976), who is most famous for his invention of what his friend Marcel Duchamp dubbed the “mobile.” Often suspended from ceilings, these sculptures feature abstract elements, frequently painted in bold colors, that move and balance in changing harmony. Calder’s art was dynamic, unconventional, and filled with vitality—qualities also displayed by his words, which combine the wisdom of a philosopher with the ingenuity of a true original. Taken from interviews, writings, and other sources, the quotations in Calder-isms offer memorable insights into Calder’s life, mind, and, above all, art. “Why must art be static? You look at an abstraction, sculptured or painted, an intensely exciting arrangement of planes, spheres, nuclei,...