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Cello on a Spindle, 1936

Work

Cello on a Spindle

Date 1936
Media
Sheet metal, wood, lead, and paint
Dimensions
67" × 47"
Collection
Kunsthaus, Zurich
Standing Mobile
Historical Photos  2
Inventory drawing for Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles (1937)
Inventory drawing of 27 objects considered for inclusion in Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1937Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
Inventory drawing of 27 objects considered for inclusion in Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1937Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
Recto of double-sided installation drawing of 33 objects in Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles (1937)
Recto of double-sided installation drawing of 33 objects in Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1937Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
Recto of double-sided installation drawing of 33 objects in Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1937Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
Related exhibitions  1
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York (1937)

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York. Calder: Stabiles & Mobiles. 23 February–13 March 1937.

Solo Exhibition
Archive
Works / Standing Mobile 266
Tightrope (1936)
Tightrope, 1936
Praying Mantis (1936)
Praying Mantis, 1936
Untitled (1936)
Untitled, 1936
Five Rods and Nine Discs (1936)
Five Rods and Nine Discs, 1936
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.”