Two White Dots in the Air
Two White Dots in the Air
Two White Dots in the Air
Two White Dots in the Air

Two White Dots in the Air

Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976)

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During his lifetime, Alexander Calder was recognized as one of the most original American artists of the interwar and postwar years. As a sculptor, painter, illustrator, printmaker and designer, he combined elements of European modernism with a unique approach to form that was influenced by his early experiences as a mechanical engineer.

Calder’s major contribution to the history of modern sculpture was the mobile, a term coined by Marcel Duchamp. In this new art form, Calder made movement a crucial element, at first by working with motors and then by suspending his sculptures from the ceiling so that they would be set into motion by the movement of air. The mobiles synthesized Constructivist methods with biomorphic imagery related to Surrealism. Two White Dots in the Air is a classic example of this genre, in which abstract shapes that evoke forms from nature such as fins, wings, leaves, or cosmic bodies, are gracefully suspended from curving wires. As these forms shift and rotate in often unpredictable ways, the sculpture seems possessed of its own life.

(Perls Galleries, New York, New York);
Joseph Cantor, Carmel, Indiana; Daniel Cantor, Trustee of The Joseph Cantor Foundation, Indianapolis, Indiana;
given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields in 1987.

Object Information

artist
Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976)
creation date
1958
materials
painted metal and steel wire
dimensions
36 x 39 x 100 in. (installed)
accession number
1987.89
credit line
Gift from the Joseph Cantor Collection
copyright
© Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
collection
Contemporary Art
colors

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