''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
Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö in t ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Skeppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is one of the islands of Stockholm. It is connected with Blasieholmen and Kastellholmen by bridges. It is accessible by foot from Kungsträdgården, past the Grand Hôtel and Nationalmuseum, by bus number 65, or by boat from Slussen ...
.
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
*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
Alexander Calder's official websiteModerna Museet's official website
(Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Elements
Sculptures by Alexander Calder
1961 sculptures
Outdoor sculptures in Stockholm
Metal sculptures
Kinetic sculptures
Collection of the Moderna Museet