On View

Calder Gardens presents a rotating installation of artworks by Alexander Calder spanning the artist’s 50-year career and diverse oeuvre. The works on view do not represent a chronology nor an art historical narrative. Instead, they are chosen in response to Herzog & de Meuron’s architecture and Piet Oudolf’s gardens. Some will remain for years, others for only a few months, contributing to an environment that is ever-changing. Like the flowering of plants in a garden, Calder’s art will come and go in waves: a slow process of change that encourages close looking and repeat visits.

The inaugural installation contains an “altar” to Calder’s artist ancestors, including works by Calder’s mother, the painter Nanette Lederer Calder; his father, the sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder; and his grandfather, the sculptor Alexander Milne Calder. Each of these artists spent meaningful parts of their lives in Philadelphia, making this grouping a special nod to the city that Calder Gardens calls home.

Below is a list of artworks, presented in the order you may encounter them as you walk through our galleries. Download a map with artworks.

See plants on view.