If he was still alive, today would have been Alexander Calder's 113th birthday. He lived from 1898-1976. Google.com is celebrating using the drawing you see above on their home page. It's animated in a very subtle way.
Calder visited Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) in 1975 when I was in my freshman year. I remember attending a talk he gave that day. I also vividly remember that the Pennsylvania Ballet was commissioned to do a ballet in his honor, and I was given a ticket to see it. The ballet was incredible, and was probably THE most inspirational and influential (art) event in my life. I remember being unsure if I belonged in art school. Watching a ballet that was performed for and about Alexander Calder, who was in the theater watching it while I was too, moved me in incredible ways, and led to my deciding that I should be studying art. Very powerful.
