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Alexander Stirling Calder
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Alexander Stirling Calder
Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculptor and art teacher. He won a silver medal at the World's Fair of 1904 for his statue of Philip François Renault and led the sculpture program for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition after the death of Karl Bitter. His notable works include the Samuel Gross statue, George Washington on the Washington Square Arch in New York City, the Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia, the Depew Memorial Fountain in Indianapolis, and the Leif Erikson Memorial in Reykjavík, Iceland.
He taught sculpture at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, the Throop Polytechnic Institute, and the National Academy of Design. His father, Alexander Milne Calder, and son Alexander Calder were also sculptors.
Calder was born on January 11, 1870, in Philadelphia, the oldest of six boys, to sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and Margaret Stirling. He attended city public schools and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) 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. He worked from 1889 to 1890 as a demonstrator of anatomy at the academy and graduated in 1890.
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.
Calder moved to Paris with Charles Grafly in Fall 1890, and 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.
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 the Samuel Gross statue for the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Another early commission was for a set of twelve statues of Presbyterian clergymen for the facade of the Witherspoon Building in Philadelphia.
He worked as an instructor in modeling at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art from 1900 to 1906. In 1904, he won a silver medal at the World's Fair of 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, for his statue of Philip François Renault.
He suffered from tuberculosis and moved to Arizona in 1906 to recover his health. After his health recovered, he moved to Pasadena, California, and his family joined him. 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 and settled in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. He taught at the National Academy of Design from 1910 to 1917 and was elected an academician in 1913.
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Alexander Stirling Calder
Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculptor and art teacher. He won a silver medal at the World's Fair of 1904 for his statue of Philip François Renault and led the sculpture program for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition after the death of Karl Bitter. His notable works include the Samuel Gross statue, George Washington on the Washington Square Arch in New York City, the Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia, the Depew Memorial Fountain in Indianapolis, and the Leif Erikson Memorial in Reykjavík, Iceland.
He taught sculpture at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, the Throop Polytechnic Institute, and the National Academy of Design. His father, Alexander Milne Calder, and son Alexander Calder were also sculptors.
Calder was born on January 11, 1870, in Philadelphia, the oldest of six boys, to sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and Margaret Stirling. He attended city public schools and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) 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. He worked from 1889 to 1890 as a demonstrator of anatomy at the academy and graduated in 1890.
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.
Calder moved to Paris with Charles Grafly in Fall 1890, and 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.
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 the Samuel Gross statue for the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Another early commission was for a set of twelve statues of Presbyterian clergymen for the facade of the Witherspoon Building in Philadelphia.
He worked as an instructor in modeling at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art from 1900 to 1906. In 1904, he won a silver medal at the World's Fair of 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, for his statue of Philip François Renault.
He suffered from tuberculosis and moved to Arizona in 1906 to recover his health. After his health recovered, he moved to Pasadena, California, and his family joined him. 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 and settled in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. He taught at the National Academy of Design from 1910 to 1917 and was elected an academician in 1913.
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