Calder Foundation

Hen

Date 1925
Media
Watercolor on paper
Dimensions
17" × 10 7⁄8"
Collection
Philadelphia Museum of Art; Purchased with the Thomas Skelton Harrison Fund, 1941
Works / Work on Paper 277
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.