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Public Art

Five Rudders

By Alexander Calder
Category: Sculpture

About

Five Rudders was given to Washington University in 1964, the same year it was made. In 1990, the work was renovated and moved to its more visible location in front of the Washington University Gallery of Art. The sheet metal segments of Five Rudders drift around its bright red base, floating like black rudders beneath the surface of the sea, calmly obeying the changing direction of the flow of water. The solid black and red colors of the piece are characteristic of Calder’s work, which incorporates mainly white, black, and the primary colors red, yellow, and blue.

Dimensions: 126″ x 98.25″ x 112″
Year Completed: 1964
Material: Painted sheet metal and rods
Owner: Washington University
Donor: Mrs. Mark C. Steinberg


About the artist:

Alexander Calder

1898-1976

Inventor of the mobile and the stabile, Calder was one of the first artists whose large-scale works were purchased for public spaces. These often abstract works, which had been designed for display in museums and sculpture gardens, pushed the notion of public sculpture from the commemoration of heroes and events to modern, expressive conceptions.