Alexander Calder Art

Alexander Calder at his Roxbury Connecticut Workshop in 1952

The universe is real but you can't see it. 

You have to imagine it. 

Once you imagine it, you can be realistic about reproducing it. 

- Alexander Calder

Today we take you back to the year 1952 and offer a rare glimpse inside the Alexander Calder workshop in Roxbury, Connecticut (the property is still owned by the Calder family but not open to the public).  Alexander Calder (or Uncle Sandy as he was often called), one of America's best-known and best-loved sculptors, famed for his kinetic abstract mobiles and huge grounded stabiles, was in many ways an artistic Renaissance man. In addition to his celebrated sculpture, he excelled at creating paintings, drawings, book illustrations, jewelry, tapestry, toys and stage sets. His effervescent personality infused all facets of his oeuvre with elegance, vigor — and fun. These beautifully fuchsia-discolored photographs show Alexander Calder at the top of his game working on one of his famous stabiles, mobiles, animal figurines and wire sculptures. Look a bit closer and you will notice that some of them even have a price card attached to them (where is a time machine when you need it). These photographs were taken by Gordon Parks who was a leading photojournalist for Vogue and Life magazine during the 1950s.

Image Credits: Gordon Parks for Time Life Pictures. 

Text Credits: Lucia Fontana for moderndesign.org