Calder created this sculpture in 1955, it was given to Yale University by anonymous donors in 1975. The sculpture is a mobile — a type of sculpture invented by Calder that is made of hanging components that move in response to air or other stimuli.

In October 1930, Calder visited Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian’s studio where he took inspiration from the artist’s atmospheric installation. Calder then invented kinetic sculptures — now called “mobiles,” a term coined by artist Marcel Duchamp — and created “Gallows and Lollipops” in this style.

Some of Calder’s early mobiles were powered by motors, but over time, he turned towards sculptures without motors that responded to natural stimuli like air.

From the Calder Foundation website

1963–1976Monumental Works

In 1963, Calder completed construction of a large studio overlooking the Indre Valley. With the assistance of a full-scale, industrial ironworks, he began to fabricate his monumental works in France and devoted much of his later working years to public commissions. Calder died in New York in 1976 at the age of seventy-eight.

• Kinetic
• Public Art
• Sculpture