ArtGrams: Alexander Calder

Calder_1_fernandaandfriends

Via Instagrammer @kairilook: “Beyond the circus”

Installed in a staircase at the Phillips are three works by Alexander Calder from the museum’s collection: Red Polygons (c. 1950), Hollow Egg (1939), and Only, Only Bird (1951). In this month’s ArtGrams, we’re featuring your creative shots of all three.

Calder_2_badagarla

Via Instagrammer @badagarla: “‘Hollow Egg’ by Alexander Calder”

Calder_3_janouka

Instagrammer @janouka caught Calder’s Only, Only Bird in profile

Calder_4_vajiajia

Instagrammer @vajiajia: “Dance, #Calder, dance!”

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Instagrammer @leonieboothclibborn captured multiple shadows of Calder’s Hollow Egg

Calder_6_dave.wolanski

Instagrammer @dave.wolanski: “#Chicken #butt, that’s what!”

Calder_7_brennan_bok

When Instagrammer @brennan_bok strips this image of color, it’s hard to tell what is mobile and what is shadow.

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Via Instagrammer @cra66x

Calder_9_burtatochanga

Instagrammer @burtatochanga snaps Calder’s Only, Only Bird from above

Phillips-at-Home Summer Series #5: Reduce, Reuse, Create!

Our fifth project of the Phillips-at-Home Summer Series features the artist Alexander Calder and his work Only, Only Bird. For this art activity, you are going to create a suspending bird sculpture out of reusable materials. What is a suspending sculpture? A suspending sculpture is a piece of artwork that can be viewed from any angle and is usually hung from a ceiling.

 

Alexander Calder, Only, Only Bird, 1951, Tin cans and wire 11 x 17 x 39 in.; Acquired 1966; © 2008 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS); The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Alexander Calder, Only, Only Bird, 1951, Tin cans and wire 11 x 17 x 39 in.; Acquired 1966; © 2008 Estate of Alexander Calder/Artists Rights Society (ARS); The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Look closely: What do you notice in this sculpture? Why do you think Calder used tin cans to create his bird sculpture? What is the significance of the reusable materials? What kind of bird would you create out of reusable materials?

 

About the Artist: Alexander Calder was born in 1898 in Lawnton, PA. He graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919 with a degree in mechanical engineering and held several jobs before he went to the Art Students League of New York in 1923. Calder is best known for his work with kinetic sculpture, especially mobiles. His work was exhibited in several large retrospectives, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York: the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Calder passed away in New York on November 11, 1976, soon after the opening of his last retrospective, which he installed himself.

 

Marjorie Phillips had seen a photograph of the Only, Only Bird and desired it for her 1966 exhibition, Birds in Contemporary Art. She not only published it on the cover of the catalogue, but also purchased it for the permanent collection. Marjorie admired Calder’s work, stating that “in bird sculpture, more imaginative daring conceptions and materials have been used than in any previous age. Calder’s most delightful vigorous ‘Only, Only Bird’ is developed from a tin can.”

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

Ideas for reusable materials needed

Ideas for reusable materials needed

  • Possible reusable (clean) items: plastic water/soda bottles, paper towel holders, tissue boxes, cups, plates, newspapers, magazines, chenille stems, beads, or anything else that you find to be reusable
  • Clear wire/fishing line
  • Glue
  • Pen
  • 8.5” x 11” white paper
  • Tissue or construction paper
  • Tape
  • Scissors

 

SUGGESTED AGE:

  • Ages 8 and Up

 

 

TIME FRAME:

  • 4 hours

 

STEPS:

1. What bird do you wish to create a sculpture of? Find a photograph of your bird. Do a quick pen sketch using the photograph to help you draw it. I chose a flamingo.

Step One - Sketch

Step 1 – Sketch

2. Now, think about what reusable materials you could use to create your bird. Every bird is going to need different materials because every bird is unique.

3. You will create the main body of your bird first. I used a large cup as my base and layered it by gluing tissue paper to resemble feathers. You could use newspaper or magazine strips to resemble feathers as well.

Step 3

Step 3

Step 3

Step 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Then, think about what your neck will be made out of. I decided to braid chenille stems. I poked a hole in the cup in order to attach the neck to the body.

Step 4

Step 4

5. Don’t forget the head! I chose a smaller cup to use for the head, using the same technique of layering tissue paper. Poke another hole to attach the other end of the neck.

Step 5

Step 5

6. Add features to detail your bird’s face. Think about what you want the eyes and beak to look like. I chose to use chenille stems. Remember you can use whatever materials fits your bird’s needs.

Step 5

Step 5

Step 5

Step 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. For the legs, I chose to attach chenille stems to the bottom of my main cup body with tape. Every bird is different so it depends on the size of your bird’s legs.

8. Finally, add any other features with your reusable materials that might be special to your bird.

9. Attach the clear wire to the neck and body in order for it to suspend correctly. I created a loop around the neck and then taped a loop on the inside of the main cup body.

Perry, the Flamingo, Sculpture: Julia Kron

Step 9

10. Give your bird a name! Say Hello to Perry the Flamingo. Also, feel free to color in your original sketch with crayons if you would like to.

Perry, the Flamingo, Sculpture: Julia Kron

Perry, the Flamingo, Sculpture: Julia Kron

Step 10 - Color in your sketch

Step 10 – Color in your sketch

Tune in regularly for more art activities inspired by artwork in The Phillips Collection.

Julia Kron, K12 Education Intern

Spotlight on The Red Sun: Part II

Image of works by Ellsworth Kelly, Joan Miro, and Alexander Calder

(Left) Ellsworth Kelly, Red Relief, 2009. Oil on canvas, two joined panels, 80 x 62 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. Private collection. Photo: Jerry L. Thompson, courtesy the artist © Ellsworth Kelly (middle) Joan Miró, The Red Sun, 1948. Oil and gouache on canvas, 36 1/8 x 28 1/8 in. Acquired 1951. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (right) Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1948. Painted sheet metal and wire, 26 x 26 x 5 1/2 in. Gift from the estate of Katherine S. Dreier, 1953. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Read Part I of this series 

It is always fun to hear the stories behind a work of art, giving an otherwise unknown perspective on the painting. Duncan Phillips wanted to show “art beyond ‘isms,’” and I found it interesting that while he was not keen on surrealism, he acquired Joan Miró’s The Red Sun (1948) on the grounds that it fit in with the rest of his collection. Our guide for this spotlight talk, Paul Ruther, pointed out this connectivity and discussed the painting’s similarities to other works currently on view nearby–the surrounding Ellsworth Kelly panels (use of similar, bright primary colors) and Alexander Calder mobiles (floating objects in space).

Miró’s whimsy was not only evident in his art, but also his personality. After visiting the United States and New York for the first time, he returned to Spain with an unusual souvenir—sidewalk toys, which he added to his personal toy collection. In fact, some of the toys’ faces are strikingly similar to the background face in this painting!

Hannah Hoffman, Marketing Intern