Calder Foundation

Man on Ladder

Date 1932
Media
Ink on paper
Dimensions
30" × 21 1⁄4"
Collection
Calder Foundation, New York
Related exhibitions  2
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France (1969)

Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. Calder. 2 April–31 May 1969.

Solo Exhibition
Tate Modern, London (2015)

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

Solo Exhibition
Works / Work on Paper 274
Related Timeline
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.”