One of my all time favorite artists is Alexander Calder. While he was probably best known for his mobile sculptures (he coined the word “mobile”), he also had a lifetime love of the circus. One of his early jobs as an illustrator for the National Police Gazette, sent him to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to sketch circus scenes for 2 weeks in 1925. Later when he moved to Paris (1926) he created “Cirque Calder”. All the pieces were small enough to be packed in a small trunk which allowed him to take it with him places and have impromptu circus performances. They usually lasted for about 2 hours and were very elaborate. Every now and then I like to watch this video & thumb through my Calder books for inspiration. I thought today would be a good day for an impromptu circus performance here (only 5minutes rather than 2 hours). Hope you enjoyed it!
One of my all time favorite artists is Alexander Calder. While he was probably best known for his mobile sculptures (he coined the word “mobile”), he also had a lifetime love of the circus. One of his early jobs as an illustrator for the National Police Gazette, sent him to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to sketch circus scenes for 2 weeks in 1925. Later when he moved to Paris (1926) he created “Cirque Calder”. All the pieces were small enough to be packed in a small trunk which allowed him to take it with him places and have impromptu circus performances. They usually lasted for about 2 hours and were very elaborate. Every now and then I like to watch this video & thumb through my Calder books for inspiration. I thought today would be a good day for an impromptu circus performance here (only 5minutes rather than 2 hours). Hope you enjoyed it!
One of my all time favorite artists is Alexander Calder. While he was probably best known for his mobile sculptures (he coined the word “mobile”), he also had a lifetime love of the circus. One of his early jobs as an illustrator for the National Police Gazette, sent him to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to sketch circus scenes for 2 weeks in 1925. Later when he moved to Paris (1926) he created “Cirque Calder”. All the pieces were small enough to be packed in a small trunk which allowed him to take it with him places and have impromptu circus performances. They usually lasted for about 2 hours and were very elaborate. Every now and then I like to watch this video & thumb through my Calder books for inspiration. I thought today would be a good day for an impromptu circus performance here (only 5minutes rather than 2 hours). Hope you enjoyed it!
