The Four Elements (sculpture)

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Artist| Alexander Calder

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Year| 1961
Medium| Sculpture
Location| Stockholm, Sweden
The Four Elements at Moderna Museet in Stockholm

The Four Elements is a monumental mobile sculpture created by the American sculptor Alexander Calder in 1961. The sculpture is a motorized moving group of four metal sheets. The artwork is about 30 feet high. The sheets are painted in plain colours. This sculpture is made after a Calder model from 1938.

The Four Elements is a long-term installation and located in front of the entry to Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Skeppsholmen.

The artwork was brought from New York by Pontus Hultén (that time, the director of Moderna Museet). The Four Elements was a part of the exhibition Movement in Art (Rörelse i konsten), and the exhibition was on display in Moderna Museet from 16 May till 10 September 1961.

As a memory of the artist's extensive presence in the exhibition, Calder's The Four Elements was left standing outside the museum. The artwork became a signature and a veritable symbol of the Moderna Museet. It was donated to the museum by Alexander Calder and the engineer Allan Skarne in 1967. The Four Elements is a part of the Sculpture park (Swedish Skulpturparken) outside the Moderna Museet.

## References

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* Calder : Alexander Calder 1898-1976 : Moderna museet. Nieckels, Monica; Helleberg, Margareta. Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 1996.
* The History Book On Moderna Museet 1958-2008. Tellgren, Anna; Sundberg, Martin; Rosell, Johan. Moderna museet, Stockholm. Göttingen: Steidl, 2008. p. 100, p. 235.
* Calder, Alexander (1976). Alexander Calder 1898-1976 American Sculptor, Calder's Universe. p. 11.

## External links

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* Alexander Calder's official website
* Moderna Museet's official website (Swedish)

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Alexander Calder

Sculptures|

* Cirque Calder (1926)
* Mercury Fountain (1937)
* Lobster Trap and Fish Tail (1939)
* Snow Flurry (1948–1959)
* Floating Clouds (1953)
* The Whirling Ear (1958)
* The Four Elements (1961)
* Teodelapio (1962)
* The Crab (1962)
* Sky Hooks (1962)
* La Grande Voile (The Big Sail) (1965)
* Gwenfritz (1968)
* Spinal Column (1968)
* La Grande Vitesse (1969)
* Bent Propeller (1970)
* Eagle (1971)
* Four Arches (1973–1974)
* Flamingo (1974)
* Cheval Rouge (1974)
* Flying Dragon (1975)
* Intermediate Model for the Arch (1975)
* Saurien (1975)
* Calder's set for Socrate (1976)
* Homage to Jerusalem (1977)
* Mountains and Clouds (1986)

Related|

* Mobile
* Wire sculpture
* Alexander Stirling Calder (father)
* Alexander Milne Calder (grandfather)
* Calder Gardens

59°19′31″N 18°05′01″E﻿ / ﻿59.3253°N 18.0837°E﻿ / 59.3253; 18.0837
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