Talk:Alexander Calder

not the first federally funded public work of art

The article currently says the following:

This sculpture is notable for being the first public work of art in the United States to be funded with federal monies; acquired with funds granted from the then new National Endowment for the Arts under its “Art for Public Places” program.

This is certainly incorrect. Consider, for instance, the murals that were painted as part of the Works Progress Administration/Public Works of Art Project in the 1930s. Our article on the Public Works of Art Project talks about a sculpture at Griffith Observatory completed in 1934, 30 years before Calder's work. The NEA is not particularly clear, but it says this on its website:

Alexander Calder, one of America's preeminent artists, was chosen to create the first civic sculpture jointly financed by federal and private funds. The NEA went on to fund almost 700 other works as part of its $15 million public art project.

I think what the NEA is saying here is that this was the first civic sculpture funded by the NEA (which was itself just founded) rather than the first sculpture funded by the federal government. I've changed the text to say that this was the first civic sculpture to receive funding from the NEA. GabrielF (talk) 05:58, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

birth date

Most sources, including Calder himself, give his birth date a July 22.
I always thought I was born—at least my mother always told me so—on August 22, 1898. But my grandfather Milne’s birthday was on August 23, so there might have been a little confusion. In 1942, when I wrote the Philadelphia City Hall for a birth certificate, I sent them a dollar and they told me I was born on the twenty-second of July, 1898. So I sent them another dollar and told them, “Look again.” They corroborated the first statement. (Calder 1966, 11)
http://www.calder.org/life/chronology Thisdaytrivia (talk) 16:09, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

The only source given for the DOB is http://www.calder.org/life/chronology - which says "1898 22 July or August" and goes on with the discussion above. I think we need a better source and until we can clarify it, it should be removed. Toddst1 (talk) 22:09, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

That source seems questionable. It states, as does the article, that he was born in Lawnton. However, sources 4 and 5 both state that he was born in Philadelphia. Why else would his birth certificate be in Philadelphia? 2600:4040:7840:C500:95C7:C485:458C:500 (talk) 04:39, 12 August 2025 (UTC)

Joan Miró

For his lifelong friend Joan Miró, Calder set a shard of a broken porcelain vessel in a brass ring

That's it? That's all we get about Miró? One could write an entirely separate article about their shared aesthetic. This should be addressed promptly. Viriditas (talk) 08:20, 21 January 2024 (UTC)

True, honestly I'm suprised by the lack of interest in editing Calder's page generally. I'm still working my way through his (two-part) biography (Calder: The conquest of time & Calder: The conquest of space). They're extremely extensive and I'll try and freshen the article up a bit with content/citations from there, just haven't had time yet, they total about 1400 pages. Additionally, it contains a wealth of detail on Alexander Stirling & Alexander Milne Calder which hopefully can add to their articles too. Until then, I'm just whittling down the awards section and adding cites to it. Transgenderoriole (talk) 23:13, 28 July 2025 (UTC)