BiographyCalder graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After taking classes at the Arts Student's League, he became a freelance artist and illustrator, and published a book titled Animal Sketching. In the 20s, Calder began traveling to Paris, becoming influenced by the work of Klee and Miro. In 1930, after visiting Piet Mondrian's studio, he began to create abstract constructions incorporating biomorphic forms, specifically with variations on the mobile, which he is most known for. Calder divided his time between trips abroad, and his farm in Roxbury, Connecticut, and as his commissions grew more frequent, his mobiles became increasingly gigantic. Examples are Flamingo, the stabile at Federal Center Plaza in Chicago, and La Défense, at the Rond Point de La Défense Métro station in Paris.
