Alexander Calder was born in Lawnton, Pennsylvania (now part of Philadelphia) in 1898, Alexander Calder came from a family of famous artists. A third-generation sculptor, his revolutionary "mobile" and "stabile" works ranged from matchbox-sized miniatures to seven-story wonders. Though demonstrating prodigious artistic ability as a child, a pursuit encouraged by his parents, he elected to study engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.



He graduated in 1919 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After a series of jobs, Calder decided to study art. As a freelance artist for the National Police Gazette in 1925 he spent two weeks sketching at the circus; his fascination with the subject dates from this time. He also made his first sculpture in 1925; the following year he made several constructions of animals and figures with wire and wood. Calder’s first exhibition of paintings took place in 1926 at the Artist’s Gallery in New York.