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Alexander Calder, Vertical Constellation with Bomb, 1943, painted
steel wire, painted wood, and wood, National Gallery of Art,
Washington, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls 1996.120.8
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Constellations:
The Series (1941-1943)
Alexander Calder invented
mobiles, sculpture
that moved, in the early 1930s. Later, he added large-scale stabiles,
fixed sculpture. During World War II, Calder created the Constellations
series. The pieces are motionless, like stabiles, yet airy, like mobiles.
Many, for example Vertical Constellation with Bomb, rest on a flat
surface, but some Constellations are mounted from the wall at an angle.
Generally, they are composed of small abstract forms carved from wood
that are carefully arranged in three dimensions. The materials are either
painted or left unfinished.
 
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