Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor who invented the mobile, a suspended abstract sculpture set in motion by air, and the stabile, its static counterpart. Trained as an engineer, he moved in Paris avant-garde circles around 1930, where a visit to Mondrian's studio pushed him toward abstraction. His wire figures, Cirque Calder, gouaches, jewellery and monumental public works make his output very large and varied. The market is deep and international, with mobiles from the 1940s and 1950s at the top. His record, Poisson volant (1957), sold for 25.9 million dollars at Christie's New York in 2014, and in November 2025 the wooden mobile Painted Wood (1943) reached 20.4 million dollars, his second highest auction price.