Alexander Calder

(USA) *1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania; †1976 in New York City

Trained as an engineer, the American sculptor Alexander Calder is primarily known for his mobile sculptures. The first mobiles emerged in the 1930s: carefully arranged, balanced constructions of organically formed metal discs that are linked to one another using rods, wire, or hinges. They are set into motion by a breeze, or by a motor, or by being touched. Although The Spiral exhibited in Bad Homburg is over three metres high, it also retains the lightness and playfulness that characterises all of Calder’s works. Red and blue, two of the primary colours, as well as the triangle and the circle, two of the primary shapes, communicate with one another. The sculpture’s mobility means that the beholder’s point of reference is constantly changing: the beholder also has to move – mentally and physically – in order to follow Calder’s wonderful world.