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Steel Fish, 1934

Work

Steel Fish

Date 1934
Media
Sheet metal, rod, wire, and paint
Dimensions
115" × 137" × 120"
Collection
Calder Foundation, New York
Monumental Sculpture, Standing Mobile
Historical Photos  9
Steel Fish (1934)
Calder with Steel Fish, Roxbury, 1934Photograph by James Thrall Soby © Calder Foundation, New York
Calder with Steel Fish, Roxbury, 1934
Photograph by James Thrall Soby
Drawing of Steel Fish (c. 1935)
Drawing of Steel Fish (1934), c. 1935Calder Foundation, New York
Drawing of Steel Fish (1934), c. 1935Calder Foundation, New York
Untitled (c. 1936)
Untitled, c. 1936Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Art Museum; Gift of Richard B. Bailey & Nanette C. Sexton in memory of Professor Frederick Deknatel (no. 1991.440)
Untitled, c. 1936
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Art Museum
Untitled (c. 1936)
Untitled, c. 1936Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum; Gift of Richard B. Bailey & Nanette C. Sexton in memory of Professor Frederick Deknatel (no. 1991.434)
Untitled, c. 1936
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum
Untitled (c. 1936)
Untitled, c. 1936Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Art Museum; Gift of Richard B. Bailey & Nanette C. Sexton in memory of Professor Frederick Deknatel (no. 1991.436)
Untitled, c. 1936
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Art Museum
Steel Fish (1938)
Steel Fish (1934), Roxbury, c. 1938Photograph by Herbert Matter © Calder Foundation, New York
Steel Fish (1934), Roxbury, c. 1938
Photograph by Herbert Matter
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1939)
Calder with Ivy Troutman at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1939. Steel Fish (1934) is in the foreground.
Calder with Ivy Troutman at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1939. Steel Fish (1934) is in the foreground.
Untitled (double-sided drawing) [verso] (1943)
Untitled (double-sided drawing) [verso], 1943Calder Foundation, New York; Anonymous Gift, 2004
Untitled (double-sided drawing) [verso], 1943
Calder Foundation, New York
Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions (1943)
Installation photograph, Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1943Photograph by Soichi Sunami © Museum of Modern Art, Soichi Sunami
Installation photograph, Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1943
Photograph by Soichi Sunami
Related exhibitions  3
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1943)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions. 29 September 1943–16 January 1944.

Solo Exhibition
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1998)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Alexander Calder: 1898–1976. 29 March–12 July 1998.

Solo Exhibition
Storm King Art Center, Mountainville (2001)

Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York. Grand Intuitions: Calder’s Monumental Sculpture. 21 May 2001–15 November 2003.

Solo Exhibition
Archive
Works / Monumental Sculpture 217
Red and Yellow Vane (1934)
Red and Yellow Vane, 1934
Red, White, Black and Brass (1934)
Red, White, Black and Brass, 1934
Five Rods and Nine Discs (1936)
Five Rods and Nine Discs, 1936
Well Sweep (1936)
Well Sweep, 1936
Works / Standing Mobile 269
Mobile (c. 1934)
Mobile, c. 1934
Assembled Bits of Wood (1935)
Assembled Bits of Wood, 1935
Untitled (1935)
Untitled, 1935
Untitled (1935)
Untitled, 1935
Related Timeline
1930–1936
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.”