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Praying Mantis, 1936

Work

Praying Mantis

Date 1936
Media
Wood, rod, wire, string, and paint
Dimensions
78" × 51" × 40"
Collection
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Purchased through the gift of Henry & Walter Keney, 1938
Standing Mobile
Historical Photos  3
Installation drawing of 21 objects in Mobiles and Objects by Alexander Calder (1936)
Installation drawing of 21 objects in Mobiles and Objects by Alexander Calder, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1936Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
Installation drawing of 21 objects in Mobiles and Objects by Alexander Calder, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1936Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
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
Praying Mantis (1943)
Photograph of Praying Mantis (1936) for Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1943Photograph by Soichi Sunami © Museum of Modern Art, Soichi Sunami
Photograph of Praying Mantis (1936) for Alexander Calder: Sculptures and Constructions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1943
Photograph by Soichi Sunami
Related exhibitions  1
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
Archive
Works / Standing Mobile 269
Tightrope (1936)
Tightrope, 1936
Cello on a Spindle (1936)
Cello on a Spindle, 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.”