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Pantograph, 1931

Work

Pantograph

Date 1931
Media
Sheet metal, wood, wire, and paint, with motor
Dimensions
35 1⁄2" × 44 1⁄2" × 22"
Collection
Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Gift of the Artist & Louisa Calder, 1961
Standing Mobile
Historical Photos  1
Calder in his studio at 14 rue de la Colonie (1931)
Calder in his studio at 14 rue de la Colonie, Paris, fall 1931Photograph by Marc Vaux © Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Centre Georges Pompidou, Marc Vaux Collection
Calder in his studio at 14 rue de la Colonie, Paris, fall 1931
Photograph by Marc Vaux
Related exhibitions  7
Galerie Vignon, Paris (1932)

Galerie Vignon, Paris. Calder: ses mobiles. 12–29 February 1932.

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
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris (1965)

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris. Calder. 8 July–15 October 1965. Originated from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Solo Exhibition
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1976)

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Calder’s Universe. 14 October 1976–6 February 1977.

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
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2009)

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Alexander Calder: les années parisiennes 1926–1933. 18 March–20 July 2009. Originated from the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Solo Exhibition
Tate Modern, London (2015)

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

Solo Exhibition
Archive
Works / Standing Mobile 269
Dancing Torpedo Shape (1932)
Dancing Torpedo Shape, 1932
Double Arc and Sphere (1932)
Double Arc and Sphere, 1932
Half-circle, Quarter-circle and Sphere (1932)
Half-circle, Quarter-circle and Sphere, 1932
Requin et Baleine (c. 1933)
Requin et Baleine, c. 1933
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.”