''Bent Propeller'' (also known as ''World Trade Center Stabile'') was a red stainless steel sculpture by Alexander Calder.

Description

The main elements of the sculpture were three sheets of curved metal, linked together to form a static work resting under its own weight, making it what Calder called a "stabile", as opposed to his famous "mobile" sculptures. It was reminiscent of a ship's propeller. Like many of Calder's public sculptures, it was painted red. The large work, high, was first installed near the entrance to WTC1 (the North Tower). It was moved in 1970 to a plaza in front of

7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) refers to two buildings that have existed at the same location within the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The original structure, part of the original World Trade Cent ...

, on the northeast corner of the Austin J. Tobin Plaza by

Vesey Street Vesey Street ( ) is a street in New York City that runs east-west in Lower Manhattan. The street is named after Rev. William Vesey (1674-1746), the first rector of nearby Trinity Church. History The intersection of Vesey and West Streets was ...

and Church Street.

History

The sculpture was commissioned by the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

in 1969 and installed in 1970 at the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

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The work was destroyed in 2001 in the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, crushed under thousands of tons of rubble when 7 World Trade Center collapsed. About 40 percent of the sculpture was recovered from the debris in the following months. With not enough of the original remaining for a restoration, the recovered elements were stored by the Calder Foundation. Today, a portion of the sculpture can be found at the

National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombi ...

References

Lost Art: Alexander Calder
Tate Gallery, 10 September 2012

NPR, 22 October 2001
Alexander Calder, 1898-1976, ''Bent Propeller'', 1970
Gallery of Lost Art
Alexander Calder
Gallery of Lost Art blog, 16 November 2012
''Bent Propeller''
Gallery of Lost Art blog, 2 May 2012
''Sculpture Fragment, Recovered''
National September 11 Memorial & Museum, 2011 {{World Trade Center 1970 establishments in New York (state) 1970 sculptures 2001 disestablishments in New York (state) Artwork in the World Trade Center * Destroyed sculptures Sculptures by Alexander Calder Stainless steel sculptures in the United States

Description

History

See also

References