Calder Foundation

Spectacles

Date 1932
Media
Steel wire
Dimensions
4 1⁄4" × 5 1⁄8" × 6"
Collection
Private Collection
Historical Photos  1
Related exhibitions  2
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1964)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Alexander Calder: A Retrospective Exhibition. 6 November 1964–31 January 1965.

Solo Exhibition
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2008)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Calder Jewelry. 8 December 2008–1 March 2009. Originated from the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida.

Solo Exhibition
Works / Jewelry 123
Related Timeline
1930–1936 Shift to Abstraction

Following a visit in October of 1930 to Piet Mondrian’s studio, where he was impressed by the environmental installation, Calder made his first wholly abstract compositions and invented the kinetic sculpture now known as the mobile. Coined for these works by Marcel Duchamp in 1931, the word “mobile” refers to both “motion” and “motive” in French. He also created stationary abstract works that Jean Arp dubbed “stabiles.”