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Little Blue Panel, 1934

Work

Little Blue Panel

Date 1934
Media
Plywood, wood, sheet metal, wire, and paint, with motor
Dimensions
19" × 10 3⁄8" × 5 1⁄2"
Collection
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Purchased through the gift of Henry & Walter Keney, 1935
Panel / Frame, Standing Mobile
Historical Photos  2
Untitled (double-sided drawing) [recto] (1943)
Untitled (double-sided drawing) [recto], 1943Calder Foundation, New York; Anonymous Gift, 2004
Untitled (double-sided drawing) [recto], 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
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
Tate Modern, London (2015)

Tate Modern, London. Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture. 11 November 2015–3 April 2016.

Solo Exhibition
Archive
Works / Panel / Frame 24
Square (c. 1934)
Square, c. 1934
Untitled (1934)
Untitled, 1934
Red Panel (c. 1934)
Red Panel, c. 1934
Black Frame (1934)
Black Frame, 1934
Works / Standing Mobile 270
The White Frame (1934)
The White Frame, 1934
Steel Fish (1934)
Steel Fish, 1934
Red and Yellow Vane (1934)
Red and Yellow Vane, 1934
Red, White, Black and Brass (1934)
Red, White, Black and Brass, 1934
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.”