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Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.
Thirteen Black Elements
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Thirteen Black Elements

Artist Alexander Calder American, 1898–1976
Date1960
Mediumpainted iron or steel
Dimensions83.8 × 139.7 cm (33 × 55 in.)
96.5 × 116.8 × 94 cm (38 × 46 × 37 in.) (Installed)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineFrom the Collection of Chapin and Mary Alexander Riley
Terms
Object number2008.85
Label TextBorn into a line of Philadelphia artists, Calder revolutionized sculpture
in modern art by incorporating movement and chance into a
traditionally static art form. Active in avant-garde art circles in New
York and Paris, he started making abstract sculptures with moving
parts in 1931. These “mobiles”—as they were dubbed by an artist
friend—initially used motors, but soon Calder designed works that
moved on their own. Note how this mobile is constantly shifting in
shape with the subtle changes in air currents.ProvenanceMr. Chapin Riley, Los Angeles, CA
On View
On view
Current Location
  • Exhibition Location   Gallery 4001