Calder Foundation

Dog

Date 1909
Media
Brass sheet
Dimensions
2 1⁄4" × 4 1⁄2" × 1"
Collection
Calder Foundation, New York; Mary Calder Rower Bequest, 2011
Related exhibitions  5
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
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
Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2009)

Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. Calder: Sculptor of Air. 23 October 2009–14 February 2010.

Solo Exhibition
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2019)

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Alexander Calder: Radical Inventor. 5 April–4 August 2019. Originated from Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Solo Exhibition
Chronology  1
December 1909

For Christmas, Calder presents his parents with a dog and a duck that he trimmed from a brass sheet and bent into formation. The duck is kinetic, rocking back and forth when tapped.

Works / Wire Sculpture 76
Related Timeline
1898–1925 Early Development

Alexander Calder created works of art throughout his childhood. In his twenties, he moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League. He worked concurrently at the National Police Gazette, illustrating sporting events and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and he made hundreds of brush drawings of animals at the Bronx and Central Park zoos. During this period, he commonly used sheet metal and wire for other projects.