Alexander Stirling Calder
This sculptor's hands shaped the civic grandeur of early 20th-century America, from the Washington Square Arch to fountains that still animate public spaces.
1870–1945 (age 75)·American sculptor·Birthday: January 11·The Gilded Age
Biography
Alexander Stirling Calder operated in the grand tradition of American Beaux-Arts sculpture, creating monuments that defined the spirit of their age. The son of a sculptor and father to the revolutionary artist Alexander Calder, he mastered a style that was both elegant and forceful. After training in Philadelphia and Paris, he rose to prominence with major commissions, including the majestic George Washington statue atop New York's Washington Square Arch. He was entrusted with leading the vast sculpture program for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, a task that required orchestrating the work of many artists after the original director's death. His public works, like the playful Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia, demonstrated a knack for integrating sculpture with architecture and water, creating enduring landmarks of civic beauty.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Alexander was born in 1870, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alexander Was Born
The biggest hits of 1870
Alexander's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1870Born
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1875Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1883Became a teenager
President: Chester A. Arthur
1886Could drive
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1888Could vote
President: Grover Cleveland
1891Turned 21
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Turned 30
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1910Turned 40
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 50
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 60
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 70
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1945Died at 75
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
Key Achievements
- Served as acting director of sculpture for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.
- Created the statue of George Washington on horseback for the Washington Square Arch in New York City.
- Designed the Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Circle, Philadelphia, in collaboration with architect Wilson Eyre.
- Won a silver medal at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis for his statue of French colonist Philip François Renault.
Did You Know?
He was the father of mobile inventor Alexander Calder and the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder.
He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for many years.
One of his early assistants was the sculptor John Flanagan, who later designed the Washington quarter.
His 'Leif Erikson Memorial' stands in Reykjavík, Iceland.
“The figure must grow out of the base as a tree from the ground.”
