Bent Propeller
Bent Propeller was a red stainless steel sculpture by Alexander Calder.
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 World Trade Center (1971–2001)|1 World Trade Center]. It was moved in 1970 to a plaza in front of 7 [World Trade Center (1987–2001)|7 World Trade Center], on the northeast corner of the Austin J. Tobin Plaza by Vesey Street and Church Street.History
The sculpture was commissioned by the Port Authority of [New York and New Jersey] in 1969 and installed in 1970 at the World Trade Center in New York City.The work was severely damaged in 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, crushed under thousands of tons of rubble when Collapse of [the World Trade Center#Collapse of 7 World Trade Center|7 World Trade Center collapsed]. About 40 percent of the sculpture was recovered from the debris in the following months. The remainder of the sculpture was never recovered, and any of its unrecovered remains were removed from Ground Zero along with the rest of the rubble.
With not enough of the original sculpture remaining for a restoration, the recovered elements were stored by the Calder Foundation. Today, a portion of the recovered sculpture can be found at the National [September 11 Memorial & Museum].