Letter Opener
n.d.
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall: 12.7 × 8.89 cm (5 × 3 1/2 in.)
Classification
Decorative Art
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Olga Hirshhorn)
Accession Number
2015.19.3949
Art Historical Context
Alexander Calder's *Letter Opener* (n.d.) is a delightful example of the artist's playful fusion of functionality and abstraction. Crafted in bronze and measuring just 5 × 3½ inches, this compact tool from the National Gallery of Art Corcoran Collection ( of Olga Hirshhorn) transforms an everyday object into a sculptural gem. Calder, renowned for his pioneering mobiles and stabiles in the 20th century, often infused utilitarian items with his signature whimsy, drawing from Surrealism and organic forms inspired by nature and circus imagery. The bronze medium lends the piece enduring elegance a...
About the Artist
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898, in Lawnton, Pennsylvania, into a family of sculptors spanning three generations: his grandfather Alexander Milne Calder created the colossal bronze William Penn atop Philadelphia City Hall, and his father Alexander Stirling Calder was a celebrated monumental sculptor. Despite this lineage, Calder first pursued mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute ...