Flower

Alexander Calder

1949

Iron, silver, aluminum, and paint

Dallas Museum of Art

Alexander Calder's mobiles have brought delight and pleasure to millions. Informed by the most important art movements in early twentieth-century Europe, Calder's work has always been greatly inspired by the rhythms and movements of nature. Liberating sculpture from its pedestal, Calder revolutionized the medium and introduced motion into modern art. Calder, trained as a mechanical engineer, turned to art in 1923. Enrolled in the Art Students League, New York, he studied under Ashcan painters, George Luks and John Sloan. Two years later he accepted a freelance assignment that proved a turning-point in his life: for two weeks, he ske