La Grande Vitesse
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La Grande Vitesse
''La Grande Vitesse'', a public art, public sculpture by United States, American artist Alexander Calder, is located on the large concrete plaza surrounding City Hall and the Kent County Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Popularly referred to as simply "the Calder", since its installation in 1969 it has come to be a symbol of Grand Rapids, and an abstraction of it is included in the city's official logo. History The sculpture was the first public art work funded by the Art in Public Places program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Fabricated in Tours, France and assembled on the plaza, the steel sculpture is 43 feet tall, 54 feet long, and 30 feet wide, and weighs 42 tons. It is painted in Calder's signature bright red. The title is French for “the great swiftness" which is synonymous with and ultimately translated as "The Grand Rapids". Calder's design for ''La Grande Vitesse'' was consistent with other monumental sculptures he was commissione ...
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Alexander Calder
Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyze his work, saying, "Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn't be broadcast to other people." Early life Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. His birthdate remains a source of confusion. According to Calder's mother, Nanette (née Lederer), Calder was born on August 22, yet his birth certificate at Philadelphia City Hall, based on a hand-written ledger, stated July 22. When Calder's family learned of the birth certificate, they asserted with certainty that city officials had made a mistake. His mother was Jewish and of German descent and his father was Calvinist and of Scottish descent, but ...
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Tourist Attractions In Grand Rapids, Michigan
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic (within the traveller's own country) or international. International tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, tourism numbers declined due to a severe economic slowdown (see Great Recession) and the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. These numbers, however, recovered until the COVID-19 pandemic put an abrupt end to the growth. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has estimated that global international tourist a ...
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Sculptures By Alexander Calder
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used carving (the removal of material) and modelling (the addition of material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramic art, ceramics, wood and other materials but, since Modernism, there has been almost complete freedom of materials and process. A wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or Molding (process), moulded or Casting, cast. Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than pottery) from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. In addition, most ancient sculpture was painted, which h ...
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1969 Sculptures
1969 (Roman numerals, MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1960s decade. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 – Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. * January 14 – USS Enterprise fire, An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 28 and injures 314. * January 16 – First successful docking of two crewed spacecraft in orbit and the first transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another (by a space walk) between Soviet craft Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 4. * January 18 – Failure of Soyuz 5's service module to separ ...
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Outdoor Sculptures In Michigan
Outdoor(s) may refer to: *Wilderness *Natural environment *Outdoor cooking *Outdoor education *Outdoor equipment *Outdoor fitness *Outdoor literature *Outdoor recreation *Outdoor Channel, an American pay television channel focused on the outdoors * See also * * * ''Out of Doors'' (Bartók) *Field (other) *Outside (other) Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * ' ... *'' The Great Outdoors (other)'' {{disambiguation ...
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Buildings And Structures In Grand Rapids, Michigan
A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for numerous factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, monument, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the concept, see ''Nonbuilding structure'' for contrast. Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy, primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical separation of the :Human habitats, human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the ''outside'' (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). buildings have been objects or canvasses of much architecture, artistic expression. ...
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Mountains And Clouds
''Mountains and Clouds'' is a sculpture by Alexander Calder located in the Hart Senate Office Building. Background The Hart Senate Office Building, first occupied in 1982 and named for Michigan Senator Philip A. Hart, broke with tradition. Unlike its predecessors, the Hart Building boasted a contemporary, energy-efficient design that could accommodate a growing number of staff members and various technological innovations. The building's centerpiece is a towering, asymmetrical -high atrium whose skylight brightens corridors and offices. While the building was under construction, a panel of curators was charged with identifying potential sculptors and establishing criteria for the commission of a contemporary work to enliven the atrium. Alexander Calder and four other artists were invited to submit proposals. Calder was approached through his dealer, Klaus Perls, on July 29, 1975, just after his 77th birthday. A sketch and a model for ''Mountains and Clouds'' were submitted ...
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Cheval Rouge
''Cheval Rouge'' is an abstract sculpture by Alexander Calder. Constructed in 1974 of painted sheet steel, it is at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the most recent addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is located in the National Mall between the National Gallery's West Building and the Smithsonian .... See also * List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2 References External links"National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden: Page Two" ''Bluffton'' 1974 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C. Horses in art Steel sculptures in Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Sculptures by Alexander Calder {{public-art-stub ...
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Flamingo (sculpture)
''Flamingo'', a sculpture by American artist Alexander Calder, is a stabile located in the Federal Plaza in front of the Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was commissioned by the United States General Services Administration and was unveiled in 1974, although Calder's signature on the sculpture indicates it was constructed in 1973. Attributes ''Flamingo'' weighs 50 tons, is composed of steel, and is vermilion in color. Calder gave the stabile its color, which has come to be called "Calder red", to offset it from the black and steel surroundings of nearby office buildings, including the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Kluczynski Federal Building. The stabile is an art form which Calder pioneered. It is an abstract structure that is completely stationary, as opposed to a mobile, which can move with air currents. In 2012, the sculpture received a fresh paint job in its characteristic color. Commissioning and unveiling Calder was commission ...
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Eagle (Calder)
''Eagle'' is an abstract sculpture by Alexander Calder. It is located at the Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle. History It was located at the Bank One building, 500 Throckmorton Street, Fort Worth, Texas. It was commissioned by Fort Worth National Bank. It was constructed in 1971 of painted sheet steel. It was erected, and dedicated on February 15, 1974. It was relocated in 2000 after being purchased by the Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ... with funding from Jon and Mary Shirley. References External links * *http://metroplexing.blogspot.com/2011/03/missing-art-of-metroplex-what-did.html *http://www.thadsworld.net/2011/01/perspective-alexander-calder-eagle/''Eagle'' by Alexander Calder wikimapia 1971 sculptures Abstract sculptures in ...
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Gwenfritz
''Gwenfritz'' is a painted steel abstract stabile, by Alexander Calder. It is located at the National Museum of American History, at 14th Street, and Constitution Avenue, in Washington, D.C. It was dedicated on June 2, 1969. In 1983, it was relocated from the west front fountain plaza, to a corner location. On October 31, 2014, the sculpture was rededicated after being restored and relocated to its original location. It is named after Gwendolyn Cafritz, widow of Morris Cafritz, who had helped finance the project as head of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. See also *'' Cheval Rouge'', National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the most recent addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is located in the National Mall between the National Gallery's West Building and the Smithsonian ... * List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2 References External linksAfter 26 Years, ...
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