Maquettes for Large-Scale Sculpture
Calder's early stabile Whale, 1937, was the first sculpture he made from
a model or maquette. From then on, most of his large-scale mobiles
and stabiles were executed from maquettes such as those exhibited in this
room. The stabiles were made of strips of sheet metal cut and curved into
shape, and bolted together. Resting directly on the ground without the
conventional pedestal, they often look like fantastic birds, insects, or
more ominous creatures, as in Black Beast. The large versions of Black
Beast and Funghi Neri can be seen on the ground
level and on the mezzanine of the East Building.