Happy Birthday Alexander Calder!

sketch of "Steggy" by Alexander Calder in Hartford, Connecticut.

Friday Inspiration: Happy Birthday Alexander Calder!

Friday Inspiration: Currently...

{one} Alexander Calder gouaches

{two}  Corita Kent screenprints

{three} The First Six Books Of The Elements Of Euclid by Oliver Byrne (Chiswick Press, 1847)

Happy Birthday

Today is Alexander Calder's 113th Birthday. I sent an email to my father this morning informing him of that fact. When I got home later this afternoon I found the most delightful response. My father bought a little cake for "Steggy," Calder's monumental sculpture in Hartford, Connecticut.

I've loved Calder since I was very small and I spent many a summer day running around underneath Steggy.

Steggy wanted cake, and I can't stop smiling.


(photos courtesy of the best father ever, Daniel Castelli)

Friday Inspiration: Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder has been my favorite artist since I could walk. All artists have a favorite artist, or at least one individual whose work means something to them on an intangible level. Calder makes me smile. So here are seven reasons why I love him...

1. His playfulness and joie de vivre.

2. "Steggy"

Also know as Stegosaurus, a monumental public sculpture in Hartford, Connecticut erected in 1973. I used to play under it as a little kid. I was captivated by the giant red beast. It is still very magical to me.  

(top photo by Daniel Castelli, 2001)

3. His creatures

He is famous for his monumental sculpture and mobiles, but almost any major exhibition on Calder will include a least a few of his small toy sized creatures. Some are fanciful (top, Dragon, 1957) or devised from the everyday (bottom, Elephant c.1940). They are quirky and clever.

4. His color palette

Calder's favorite color was red, and he used it in abundance. His palette was almost exclusively limited to the primary colors and black and white.  

(above, Red Nose, 1969)

5. His devotion to public sculpture

There are hundreds of public works by Calder in 24 states and 18 countries. He is pictured about with Spirale (1958), in front of the UNESCO Building in Paris. Calder spent the early part of his career in Paris and split his time between the United States and France for the remainder of his life.

6. He drew with wire

 And it leaves me speechless.  (Portrait of Amedee Ozenfant, c.1930)

7. He invented the Mobile

He created sculpture that defied gravity, played with balance, and mesmerized with movement. He made us gaze upwards and wonder.

Isolated Moments

Shadows become temporal lines. And temporal lines endure with the click of a shutter. And I came across this photograph and remembered all the reasons why I love Alexander Calder.

photograph by Gjon Mili, 1968, from the Life archives

Calder at the Whitney

My increasing wanderlust + a not to miss Alexander Calder retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art = a short and very cold trip to NYC today.

A sampling of songs from a long train ride:
1. Cab / Train
2. Winter / The Rolling Stones
3. Dark Eyes / Iron and Wine with Calexico
4. When Doves Cry / The Be Good Tanyas (amazing cover)
5. Empty / Ray LaMontagne
6. Bohemian Like You / The Dandy Warhols
7. Cemeteries of London / Coldplay
8. The Way We Get By / Spoon
9. Child of the Moon / The Rolling Stones
10. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses / U2


How I amused myself from Penn Station to Boston
sketchbook page, pen and ink
6 x 10"

copyright Kate Castelli 2009