The Four Elements (sculpture)


The Four Elements is a monumental mobile sculpture created by the American sculptor Alexander Calder in 1961.
The sculpture is a motorized moving group of four metal sheets. The artwork is about 30 feet high. The sheets are painted in plain colours. This sculpture is made after a Calder model from 1938.
The Four Elements is a long-term installation and located in front of the entry to Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Skeppsholmen.
The artwork was brought from New York by Pontus Hultén. The Four Elements was a part of the exhibition Movement in Art, and the exhibition was on display in Moderna Museet from 16 May till 10 September 1961.
As a memory of the artist's extensive presence in the exhibition, Calder's The Four Elements was left standing outside the museum. The artwork became a signature and a veritable symbol of the Moderna Museet. It was donated to the museum by Alexander Calder and the engineer Allan Skarne in 1967. The Four Elements is a part of the Sculpture park outside the Moderna Museet.