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Cowboy and Rope Ladder, 1932

Work

Cowboy and Rope Ladder

Date 1932
Media
Ink on paper
Dimensions
19" × 14 1⁄8"
Collection
The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Peter A. Rübel
Work on Paper
Related exhibitions  1
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021)

The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Alexander Calder: Modern from the Start. 14 March 2021–15 January 2022.

Solo Exhibition
Archive
Works / Work on Paper 277
Acrobat (1932)
Acrobat, 1932
Tightrope Artist (1932)
Tightrope Artist, 1932
Bareback Riders (1932)
Bareback Riders, 1932
Tightrope Walker (1932)
Tightrope Walker, 1932
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.”