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

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, hi ...

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 1 World Trade Center (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) is an office building constructed as part of the new World Trade Center (2001–present), World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on a city block bounded by Gr ...

, 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 (Manhattan), Trinity Church. History The intersection ...

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 (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

in 1969 and installed in 1970 at the World Trade Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

The work was severely damaged in 2001 in the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, 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 that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...

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 Artworks in the World Trade Center * Destroyed sculptures Sculptures by Alexander Calder Stainless steel sculptures in the United States

Description

History

See also

References