Art for the People: Public Sculpture and Calder's Monumental Last Works

About this event

Just one day before his death in 1976, artist Alexander Calder finalized the details for his only combined stabile and hanging mobile, Mountains and Clouds. Commissioned to fill the Hart Senate Office Building atrium, the monumental sculpture was installed ten years later. The work comprises a 51-foot-tall stabile of bisecting triangles and arches nestled under a blanket of massive forms suspended from the skylights. (The hanging mobile component of Mountains and Clouds was recently restored and will be unveiled on November 18.)

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Calder’s passing, we’re hosting a discussion of the artist’s contributions to public sculpture. Hear from Torkwase Dyson, an interdisciplinary artist renowned for her work exploring the intersections of ecology, infrastructure, and architecture; Alexander S. C. Rower, president of the Calder Foundation and grandson of the artist; and Harry Cooper, the National Gallery's Bunny Mellon Curator of Modern Art.

Admire the 75-foot-wide mobile that Calder created specifically for the East Building Atrium and join us in the East Building Auditorium. The National Gallery is home to the world’s largest display of Calder’s work, which is spread throughout our campus.