Art & Design / alexander-calder-mobiles
Facts about Alexander Calder Mobiles
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Calder began creating mobiles in the early 1930s after visiting Piet Mondrian's Paris studio, which inspired him to introduce movement into abstract art.
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Jean Arp suggested the name 'stabile' to distinguish Calder's stationary sculptures from his hanging kinetic works.
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Alexander Calder's large-scale outdoor mobiles are classified separately from his stabiles, which are stationary abstract sculptures that do not move.
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Calder's mobiles are carefully balanced using no motors, relying entirely on air currents to produce their characteristic gentle, unpredictable motion.
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The term 'mobile' as applied to kinetic sculpture was coined by Marcel Duchamp to describe Alexander Calder's hanging, motorized, and wind-driven abstract works.