Artwork Details
- Title
- Three Discs, One Lacking
- Artist
- Alexander "Sandy" Calder (1898 – 1976)
- Year
- installed 1968; relocated 1979, 1982, 1998, 2009
- Medium
- Painted iron alloy
- Dimensions
- Height 8'6", width 7'
Artwork Description
Alexander “Sandy” Calder descended from a family of famous Philadelphia sculptors. His father’s Swann Memorial Fountain on Logan Square and grandfather’s City Hall sculptures represent artwork from three generations. Trained as a mechanical engineer and artist, Calder invented “mobiles” and “stabiles,” such as this stationary work, Three Discs, One Lacking, as well as paintings, toys, tapestries, and jewelry.
Edmund Bacon, Director of Philadelphia’s City Planning Commission, purchased this iron alloy painted sculpture for the City in 1968 with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Originally placed at the Penn Center Plaza along JFK Boulevard in 1968, the sculpture is now installed on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 17th Street, near Henry Moore’s Three Way Piece Number 1: Points and Barbara Hepworth’s Rock Form (Porthcurno).
Artwork Credits
Purchased by the City of Philadelphia, Planning Commission
Owned by the City of Philadelphia
Artwork Media
Museum Without Walls
Voices:
DONALD LIPSKI is an internationally recognized artist who lives and works in Philadelphia.
ELIZABETH HUTTON TURNER is an art historian who serves as an Advisor to the Calder Foundation.
Producer: Jonathan Mitchell