Alexander Calder (Cambridge Monographs on Americ) [Paperback]

Joan M. Marter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cambridge Monographs on Americ | Publication Date: January 13, 1997

This study, now published in paperback, provides the most complete scholarly account yet published of the life and work of Alexander Calder. The son and grandson of acclaimed public sculptors, Calder was trained as an engineer. Working in Europe during the 1920s, he was exposed to a range of avant-garde art, including Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, Constructivism, and works created at the Bauhaus. These sources, together with Calder's abiding interest in American folk art, were fundamental to the evolution of his wood and wire sculptures, which fundamentally challenged the principles of Western sculpture established in antiquity. Calder's creation of the mobile and stabile, two forms of sculpture that are synonymous with modernism, is also analysed in detail. Including a new plate section and 170 halftones, many published here for the first time, Marter's book is an absorbing study of Calder's special contribution to twentieth-century art and culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Amidst the plethora of text and images in publications on Alexander Calder, Marter's monograph stands out like a beacon, shedding substantial and important scholarly light on the formation of the ... artist ... Marter has given us the best study of Calder's art to date and one that should serve as a model for all future Calder studies.' Choice

'Comprehensive guide to Calder's life and work benefitting from the author's meetings with the artist and inclusion of unpublished documentation and photographs. An excellent read ...'. Burlington Magazine

'Joan Marter has produced what must be the most comprehensive book available about Alexander Calder ... it finally plays an important avant-garde artist the attention to which he is due.' The Art Book

Book Description

This study provides the most complete scholarly account yet published of the life and work of Alexander Calder. Paperback has a new four-colour cover and a colour section.

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 Pbk ed edition (January 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521587174
• ISBN-13: 978-0521587174
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)