Alexander Stirling Calder

Alexander Stirling Calder
A. Stirling Calder at work on the Star Maiden (1913). Audrey Munson was the model.
Born	(1870-01-11)January 11, 1870 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	January 7, 1945(1945-01-07) (aged 74) Manhattan, New York City
Nationality	American
Education	Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Académie Julian
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	Washington as President Swann Memorial Fountain Leif Eriksson Memorial

Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-known works are George Washington as President on the Washington Square Arch in New York City, the Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia, and the Leif Eriksson Memorial in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Education[]

A. Stirling Calder was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and Margaret Stirling. He attended city public schools, and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Fall 1885, at age 15. He studied under Thomas Eakins for several months, until the teacher's forced resignation in February 1886. Calder remained at PAFA, studying under Thomas Anshutz and James P. Kelly. Two of his sculptures were accepted for PAFA's 1887 annual exhibition, a rare honor for a student.^[1]:170

His father designed and was then in the midst of executing, the extensive sculpture program for Philadelphia City Hall. Calder worked as an apprentice on the project during the summers, and is reported to have modeled an arm for one of the figures. He made his first trip to Europe in Summer 1889, and returned there to study the following year.^[1]:170

Calder moved to Paris in Fall 1890, where he studied at the Académie Julian under Henri Michel Chapu. The following year, he was accepted at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he entered the atelier of Alexandre Falguière.^[1]:170

Career[]

Swann Memorial Fountain (1920–1924), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In 1892, he returned to Philadelphia and began his career as a sculptor in earnest. His first major commission, won in a national competition, was for a larger-than-life-size statue of Dr. Samuel Gross (1895–97) for the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Calder replicated the pose of Dr. Gross from Eakins's 1875 painting The Gross Clinic. Another early commission was for a set of twelve larger-than-life-size statues of Presbyterian clergymen for the facade of the Witherspoon Building (1898–99) in Philadelphia.^[1]:170

In 1906, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1913.

In Pasadena, he modeled architectural sculpture for the Throop Polytechnic Institute (now the California Institute of Technology). He returned to the east coast in 1910.^[1]:171

In 1912, he was named acting-chief (under Karl Bitter) of the sculpture program for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, a World's Fair to open in San Francisco, California, in February 1915. He obtained a studio in NYC and there employed the services of model Audrey Munson who posed for him – Star Maiden (1913–1915) – and a host of other artists. For the exposition, Calder completed three massive sculpture groups, The Nations of the East and The Nations of the West, which crowned triumphal arches, and a fountain group, The Fountain of Energy. Following Bitter's sudden death in April 1915, Calder completed the Depew Memorial Fountain (1915–1919) in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Leif Eriksson Memorial (1929–1932), Reykjavík, Iceland

Hermon Atkins MacNeil and Calder were commissioned to create larger-than-life-size sculptures for the Washington Square Arch in New York City. George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, Accompanied by Fame and Valor (1914–1916) was sculpted by MacNeil; and George Washington as President, Accompanied by Wisdom and Justice (1917–18) by Calder. These are sometimes referred to as Washington at War and Washington at Peace.^[2]

He sculpted a number of ornamental works for "Vizcaya", the James Deering estate outside Miami, Florida. These included the famous Italian Barge (1917–1919), a stone folly in the shape of a boat, projecting into Biscayne Bay.

Two of his major commissions of the 1920s were the Swann Memorial Fountain (1920–1924) in Logan Circle, and the architectural sculpture program for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (completed 1931), both in Philadelphia.

He was one of a dozen sculptors invited to compete in Oklahoma's Pioneer Woman statue competition in 1926–27,^[3] which was won by Bryant Baker. In 1927, he was also commissioned by the Berkshire Museum to sculpt the woodwork and fountain of the Museum's Ellen Crane Memorial Room in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

In 1929, he won the national competition for a monumental statue of Leif Eriksson, to be the gift of the United States to Iceland in commemoration of the 1000th anniversary of the Icelandic Parliament. Standing before the Hallgrímskirkja, the Lutheran cathedral in Reykjavík, and facing west toward the Atlantic Ocean and Greenland, the Leif Eriksson Memorial (1929–1932) has become as iconic for Icelanders as the Statue of Liberty is for Americans.

Teacher[]

Throughout his career, Calder frequently worked as a teacher. He was instructor in modeling at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art from 1899 to 1904.^[4] He taught at the National Academy of Design's evening school, 1910–11, and alongside Hermon Atkins MacNeil at NAD, 1911–12. He taught modeling at the Art Students League of New York, 1918–22.^[1]:171 He was never on PAFA's faculty, but may have occasionally lectured there, where his friend Charles Grafly was instructor in sculpture.^{[1]:171, n. 4}

Personal[]

Calder married portrait painter Nanette Lederer on February 22, 1895, and they lived in Philadelphia for the first decade of their marriage. They had two children: Margaret Calder Hayes (1896–1988) and Alexander "Sandy" Calder III (1899–1976).^[1]:171 Calder contracted tuberculosis in 1905, and he and his wife moved to Arizona for a year, leaving the children with friends (to protect them from the disease). Once he recovered his health, the family was reunited in 1906, and settled in Pasadena, California.^[5] They moved back east in 1910, and settled in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.^[1]:171

Calder died of funnel chest syndrome in 1945, a disease he developed while working on his final sculpture, Sicilian Nectar. He is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. His memoir, Thoughts of A. Stirling Calder on Art and Life (1947), was published posthumously.

Selected works[]

Title	Image	Year	Location/GPS Coordinates	Material	Height	Notes
Dr. Samuel D. Gross Memorial[6]		1895–1897	Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 39°56′53″N 75°09′30″W / 39.94794167°N 75.15820278°W / 39.94794167; -75.15820278 (Dr. Samuel D. Gross Memorial)	bronze	111 in (280 cm)	Posthumous portrait of Dr. Gross, based on Thomas Eakins's 1875 painting. From 1897 to 1970, the statue stood on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.:
Bust of Major General John F. Hartranft[7]		1898	Smith Memorial Arch, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 39°58′39″N 75°12′24″W / 39.9775°N 75.206667°W / 39.9775; -75.206667 (Smith Memorial Arch)	bronze	36 in (91 cm)	Gen. Hartranft was a U.S. Medal of Honor recipient for the First Battle of Bull Run.
Class of 1892 Drinking Fountain[8] (The Scholar and the Football Player)		1900	Quadrangle Dormitories, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 39°57′03″N 75°11′50″W / 39.950806°N 75.197306°W / 39.950806; -75.197306 (Quadrangle Dormitories),	bronze	21 in (53 cm)	Located under the arch at the top of the North Steps.
Overmantel frieze: The Boar Hunt		c.1900	Keil Hall, Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania 39°49′37″N 77°53′57″W / 39.8270°N 77.8991°W / 39.8270; -77.8991 (Boar Hunt)	carved oak		Modeled by Calder, carved by John J. Maene.[9]
Sewell Cross[10] Major General William Joyce Sewell Monument		1901	Harleigh Cemetery, Camden, New Jersey 39°55′26″N 75°05′23″W / 39.923889°N 75.089722°W / 39.923889; -75.089722 (Harleigh Cemetery)	green granite	20 ft (6.1 m)	Modeled by Calder, carved by Leland & Hall Company. Gen. Sewell was a U.S. Medal of Honor recipient for the Battle of Chancellorsville. Calder was awarded PAFA's 1905 Walter Lippincott Prize for the Sewell Cross.[1]:171
Man Cub: "Sandy" Calder at Age 3		1901–02	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	plaster (original lost)	45 in (110 cm)	PAFA purchased Calder's plaster original in 1905, and used it to make a 1906 bronze cast.[11] The plaster was either returned to Calder or lost (by 1941).[1]:172 A 1922 bronze cast is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[12]
Sundial[13]		1903-1905	Fairmount Park Horticultural Center, West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 39°58′59″N 75°12′45″W / 39.983150°N 75.212600°W / 39.983150; -75.212600 (Calder Sundial)	marble	56.5 in (144 cm)	Located in the Sunken Gardens:
Missouri: The Queen of Rivers[14]		1904	Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri	plaster		Calder won a silver medal for his sculpture at the 1904 World's Fair.[1]:170
Philippe Francois Renault[15]				plaster
Calder Cross[16] William Hickman Harte Memorial Cross		c.1905	Chippiannock Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois 41°28′54″N 90°34′40″W / 41.481667°N 90.577778°W / 41.481667; -90.577778 (Harte Monument)	granite	102 in (260 cm)	Master William Hickman Harte was a Union naval officer who died in the June 17, 1862 Battle of Saint Charles, following the sinking of the USS Mound City. Fifty years later, Harte's son located his Arkansas grave, and commissioned this cenotaph for their home town cemetery.[17]
Henry Charles Lea Monument[18]		1911	Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 40°00′15″N 75°11′25″W / 40.0042°N 75.1902°W / 40.0042; -75.1902 (Henry Charles Lea Monument)	bronze		Henry Charles Lea was a noted historian. The seated figure is Clio, the Muse of History:
Stretching Girl[19]		c.1911	National Academy of Design, Manhattan, New York City	bronze	36 in (91 cm)	Calder's NAD diploma piece, presented following his election as an Academician in 1913.[20] Robert Henri painted Calder's NAD diploma portrait.[20] Another bronze cast is at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.[21]
An American Stoic: Portrait of Najinyankte[22][23]		1912	Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, Rhode Island	bronze	28 in (71 cm)	A standing Sioux man wrapped in a blanket.
Star Maiden[24]		1913–1915	Oakland Museum, Oakland, California	bronze	51 in (130 cm)	The Star Maidens were balustrade figures surrounding the Court of the Universe:
Fountain of Energy (destroyed)		1913–1915	Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California	staff		"Energy, the Lord of the Isthmian Way, rides grandly upon the earth. His outstretched arms have severed the lands and let the waters pass. Upon his mighty shoulders stand Fame and Glory, heralding the coming of a conquerer. Energy, the Power of the Future, the Superman, approaches."[25]
						The globe featured a large reclining female figure with the head of a lioness, The Eastern Hemisphere, and a large reclining male figure with the head of a bull, The Western Hemisphere:
						4 sculpture groups were clustered around the globe: The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, The North Sea, The South Sea
						12 Nerieds riding dolphins were spaced around the pool's perimeter:
The Nations of the East[26] (destroyed)		1913–1915	atop The Arch of the Rising Sun, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California	staff
The Nations of the West[27] (destroyed)		1913–1915	atop The Arch of the Setting Sun, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California	staff		Crowning figure: Enterprise
						Central figure: The Mother of Tomorrow
Depew Memorial Fountain		1915–1917	University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana 39°46′19″N 86°09′25″W / 39.771944°N 86.156944°W / 39.771944; -86.156944 (Depew Memorial Fountain)	bronze	Crowning figure: 90 in (230 cm)	Calder completed this commission following sculptor Karl Bitter's 1915 death. Bitter's 1915 maquette for the fountain:
George Washington as President, Accompanied by Wisdom and Justice[2]		1917–18	Washington Square Arch, Washington Square, Manhattan, New York City 40°43′52″N 73°59′53″W / 40.73099°N 73.99805°W / 40.73099; -73.99805 (Washington Square Arch)	marble	12 ft (3.7 m)	Sometimes called Washington at Peace. Hermon Atkins MacNeil modeled Washington at War (1914–16). The pair flank the north side of the arch.
The Great Stone Barge[28][29] (Delights and Terrors of the Sea)		1917–1919	"Villa Vizcaya" (James Deering estate), Coconut Grove, Florida 25°44′38″N 80°12′37″W / 25.743753°N 80.210232°W / 25.743753; -80.210232 (Italian Barge, Villa Vizcaya)	limestone		Calder's barge sculptures were criticized for being "excessively erotic."[30] The eroded sculptures were used to cast concrete replicas in 1981.[31]
Garden sculpture
The Little Dear with the Tiny Black Swan (Leda and the Swan)[32]		1918-1921	Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado	bronze	28 in (71 cm)	A 60.25 in (153.0 cm) version is a promised gift to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.[33]
Swann Memorial Fountain[34] (Fountain of Three Rivers)		1920–1924	Logan Circle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 39°57′29″N 75°10′15″W / 39.95795°N 75.170819°W / 39.95795; -75.170819 (Swann Memorial Fountain)	bronze	Central figures: 11 ft (3.4 m)	Wilson Eyre, architect. The female allegorical figures represent the Schuylkill River and the Wissahickon Creek. The male Lenni Lenape figure represents the Delaware River.
Naiad with Tragic Mask[35] Model for a Fountain		c.1920	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	painted plaster	16.25 in (41.3 cm)	A bronze cast is at the Reading Public Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.[36] A larger plaster version is at the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey.[37]
Scratching Her Heel[38]		1921	Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan, New York City	bronze	12 in (30 cm)	Another bronze cast is at the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia.[39]
The Last Dryad[40]		1921	Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	plaster	70.5 in (179 cm)	A 1926 bronze cast is at the University of California, Berkeley.
Shakespeare Memorial[41] (Tragedy and Comedy, Hamlet and the Fool)		1923-1926	In front of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 39°57′34″N 75°10′16″W / 39.9595°N 75.171°W / 39.9595; -75.171 (Shakespeare Memorial)	bronze	91.5 in (232 cm)	Gilbert McIlvaine, architect Touchstone and Prince Hamlet: Another bronze cast is at Brookgreen Gardens.[42]
Head of George Bellows[43]		1925	Conner-Rosenkranz Gallery, Manhattan, New York City	plaster	14.5 in (37 cm)	A bronze cast is at the New York Historical Society.[44]
Our Lady and the Holy Child[45] (A Study in French Gothic Style)		1926	St. Mary's of Redford Church, Detroit, Michigan	marble	7 ft (2.1 m)	Located in a niche behind the High Altar.[46]
Pioneer Woman (Self-Reliant)[47]		1926–27	Woolaroc Museum, Bartlesville, Oklahoma 36°38′32″N 96°05′45″W / 36.642339°N 96.095964°W / 36.642339; -96.095964 (Woolaroc)	bronze	40 in (100 cm)	One of twelve bronze models created by American sculptors for the 1927 Pioneer Woman statue competition. Bryant Baker won the commission. His heroic-sized Pioneer Woman was dedicated in 1930, in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Calder received a $10,000 honorarium for his model.[48]
Bust of John James Audubon[49]		1927	Hall of Fame for Great Americans, Bronx Community College, Bronx, New York City 40°51′31″N 73°54′52″W / 40.858611°N 73.914444°W / 40.858611; -73.914444 (Hall of Fame for Great Americans)	bronze
Leif Eriksson Memorial[50]		1929–1932	Hallgrímskirkja Cathedral, Reykjavík, Iceland	bronze	139 in (3.5 m)	Gift of the United States commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the Althing, Iceland's parliament. The statue appeared on a U.S. postage stamp and an Icelandic coin. Calder's plaster model is at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[51] A bronze cast is at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.[52] View from the cathedral's tower, looking west to the Atlantic Ocean:
Cruel Nature: Self-Portrait at Age 60[53][54]		c.1930	National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.	terra cotta	12.5 in (32 cm)
Robert Henri: The Painter-Teacher with the Gift of Friendship[55][56] (Posthumous Bust of Robert Henri)		1934	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	plaster (unlocated)[57]	32 in (81 cm)	Calder and Henri (1865–1929) had been friends since 1885, when both were first-year students at PAFA.[1]:174 Calder's widow had a bronze cast made of the bust in 1947, which she donated to PAFA.[1]:174
Posthumous Bust of John Singer Sargent[58]		c.1934	Bronx Community College, Bronx, New York City	plaster
Introspection		c.1935		plaster
Continental Post Rider[59]		1936	William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, Washington, D.C.	aluminum	51.5 in (131 cm)
Bust of William Penn[60]		1936	Hall of Fame for Great Americans, Bronx Community College, Bronx, New York City 40°51′31″N 73°54′52″W / 40.858611°N 73.914444°W / 40.858611; -73.914444 (Hall of Fame for Great Americans)	bronze
Nature's Dance[61][62] (The Dance of Life)		1938	Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina 33°31′14″N 79°05′59″W / 33.520556°N 79.099722°W / 33.520556; -79.099722 (Brookgreen Gardens)	Indiana limestone	80 in (200 cm)
Bishop William White[63][64]		1940	Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 40°06′16″N 75°26′17″W / 40.104528°N 75.437944°W / 40.104528; -75.437944 (Washington Memorial Chapel)	bronze		The Right Reverend White was the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church. Calder's last major commission.
Bust of Winston Churchill[65]		1943		plaster		Inscription: "HAVE FAITH, HAVE HOPE, DELIVERANCE IS SURE." JULY 14, 1941.

Architectural sculpture[]

• Twelve cast stone figures of Presbyterian clergymen, Witherspoon Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1898–99, Joseph Miller Huston, architect.
  • Six of the figures were removed in 1961, and relocated to the garden of the Presbyterian Historical Society.^[66]

• 

  Reverend Marcus Whitman

• 

  Reverend James Caldwell

• 

  Reverend Samuel Davies

• 

  Reverend John McMillan

• 

  Reverend John Witherspoon

• 

  Reverend Francis Makemie

• Six spandrel figures, cast concrete, Throop Polytechnic Institute (now California Institute of Technology), Pasadena, California, 1906–1909, Myron Hart & Elmer Grey, architects.^[67]
  • Nature and Art, Energy and Law, Science and Imagination^[68]
• Oakland Civic Auditorium, Oakland, California, 1914, John J. Donovan, architect.^[69]
  • The Riches of the Earth – Seven terra cotta, half-domed friezes within the arched entrances.[4]
• Missouri State Capitol, Jefferson City, Missouri, 1924, Tracy and Swartwout, architects.
  • South Frieze, limestone, 6 ft (1.8 m) x 138 ft (42 m), depicts Missouri history in 13 bas relief panels.^[70] The frieze flanks the tops of the central portico's columns and continues behind them.
  • North Frieze, limestone, bas relief panels depict Native Americans and Europeans.^[71] The frieze flanks the tops of the central columns and continues inside the curved portico.

• 

  Throop Polytechnic Institute, c.1910.

• 

  Oakland Civic Auditorium, c.1917

• 

  Half-domed frieze

• 

  Missouri State Capitol, south façade.

• 

  Missouri State Capitol, north facade.

• Four figures of famous actresses, marble, I. Miller Building, Broadway and West 46th Street, Manhattan, New York City, 1927–1929:

• 

  I. Miller Building facade

• 

  Ethel Barrymore as Ophelia^[72]

• 

  Rosa Ponselle as Norma^[73]

• 

  Marilyn Miller as Sunny^[74]

• 

  Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy^[75]

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

• Sculpture program for University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, completed 1931, Wilson Eyre, Frank Miles Day, and Cope & Stewardson, architects:
  • Lion's Head Fountain (1920s).^[76]
  • Peacock doorway (1920s).^[77]
  • Youth doorway (1920s).^[78]
  • Gateposts (1920s): Asia,^[79] Africa,^[80] Europe,^[81] America^[82]

Medallions[]

• Life as a Dance (c.1938), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan, New York City^[83]

References[]

• Armstrong, Craven et al., 200 Years of American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of Art, NYC, 1976
• Bach, Penny Balkin, Public Art in Philadelphia, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1992
• Calder, A. Sterling, Thoughts of A. Stirling Calder on Art and Life, Privately published, New York, 1947
• Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y Crowell Co, New York 1968
• Fairmount Park Art Association, Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze and Stone, Walker Publishing Co., Inc, New York. NY 1974
• Falk, Peter Hastings, ed., Who was Who in American Art, Sound View Press, Madison Connecticut, 1985
• Gadzinski, Cunningham, Panhorst et al., American Sculpture in the Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1997
• Hayes, Margaret Calder, Three Alexander Calders, Paul S Eriksson Publisher, Middlebury, Vermont, 1977
• Hoeber, Arthur (September 1910). "Calder – A "Various" Sculptor: A Man Of Craftmanship And Brains". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. XX: 13377–13388. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
• Kvaran and Lockley, A Guide to American Architectural Sculpture unpublished manuscript,
• Opitz, Glenn B ed., Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
• Proske, Beatrice Gilman, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 1968

Notes[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Stirling Calder.

• Works by or about Alexander Stirling Calder at Internet Archive
• Biography at West Laurel Hill Cemetery web site
• Alexander Stirling Calder at Find a Grave