{{Short description|Sculpture in Chicago, Illinois, by Alexander Calder}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox artwork | title = Flamingo | image_file = Flamingo Calder.jpg | alt = Calder's ''Flamingo'' in Chicago's Federal Plaza | type = painted steel stabile | artist = Alexander Calder | year = October 25, 1974 | height_metric = | width_metric = | height_imperial = 636 | width_imperial = | city = Chicago | museum = | coordinates = {{coord|41.87881|-87.62967|type:landmark_region:US-IL|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = Chicago | pushpin_map_caption= Location in Chicago | map_size = | owner = General Services Administration<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=flamingo+calder|title = Search results for: Flamingo calder, page 1 | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution}}</ref> }} '''''Flamingo''''', a sculpture by American artist Alexander Calder, is a {{convert|53|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/timeline/calder.html |title=Chicago Public Library |access-date=2007-05-04}}</ref> stabile located in the Federal Plaza in front of the Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1N83264W7X277.2656&profile=ariall&uri=full=3100001~!5142~!32&ri=1&aspect=Browse&menu=search&source=~!siartinventories&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Outdoor+Sculpture+--+Illinois+--+Chicago&index=&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=1|access-date=2007-07-01|year=2004|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|title=Art Inventories Catalogue}}</ref> It was commissioned by the United States General Services Administration and was unveiled in 1974, although Calder's signature on the sculpture indicates it was constructed in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chicago.about.com/cs/art/l/blsculpturescal.htm |title=about.com Chicago |access-date=2007-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816034026/http://chicago.about.com/cs/art/l/blsculpturescal.htm |archive-date=2007-08-16 }}</ref>
== Attributes == ''Flamingo'' weighs 50 tons, is composed of steel, and is vermilion in color. Calder gave the stabile its color, which has come to be called "Calder red",<ref name="pag">{{cite web |url= http://www.winterdelights.com/pdfs/publicart.pdf |title=The Chicago Public Art Guide | publisher=City of Chicago Department of Public Affairs| website = winterdelights.com |access-date=2007-05-04}}</ref> to offset it from the black and steel surroundings of nearby office buildings, including the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Kluczynski Federal Building.<ref name="higdon">{{cite web |url= http://www.halhigdon.com/picasso/index.htm | last=Higdon| first= Hal |title= Starting with Picasso: Chicago's Finest Art Isn't All in the Art Institute| website= halhigdon.com|access-date=2007-05-04 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091231000707/http://halhigdon.com/picasso/index.htm |archive-date=2009-12-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://antiquesandthearts.com/archive/calder.htm | last=May| first= Stephen |title= Alexander Calder at the National Gallery of Art |website= antiquesandthearts.com |access-date=2007-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405023716/http://www.antiquesandthearts.com/archive/calder.htm |archive-date=2007-04-05 }}</ref> The stabile is an art form which Calder pioneered. It is an abstract structure that is completely stationary, as opposed to a mobile, which can move with air currents. In 2012, the sculpture received a fresh paint job in its characteristic color.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://sculptureconservation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/CALDER-RED-PDF.pdf|title = NOTES FOR A HISTORY OF "CALDER RED" COLOR AND ITS PAINTS IN THE UNITED STATES IN RELATION TO THE RECOATINGS OF ALEXANDER CALDER'S FLAMINGO (1973) AND LA GRANDE VITESSE (1969) AND OTHER CALDER STABILES|date = 2013|last = Lodge|first = Robert|website = sculptureconservation.com}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Commissioning and unveiling == Calder was commissioned to design the sculpture because of his well-established international reputation; the space, surrounded by rectangular modern buildings, necessitated the kind of arching forms and dynamic surfaces that a large-scale Calder stabile could provide.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Joan Marter |author-link=Joan Marter |date=July 1979 |title=Alexander Calder's Stabiles: Monumental Public Sculpture in America |journal=American Art Journal |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=75–85 |doi=10.2307/1594168 |jstor=1594168 |publisher=American Art Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3}}</ref> ''Flamingo'' was the first work of art commissioned by the General Services Administration under the federal Percent for Art program, which allocates a percentage of a project's budget to public art.<ref name="calder">{{cite web |url=http://www.calder.org/SETS/life/life.html |title=Calder Foundation: Calder's Life |access-date=2007-05-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070416222346/http://www.calder.org/SETS/life/life.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://forecastpublicart.org/anthology-downloads/wetenhall.pdf |last=Wetenhall |first=John |date=Fall–Winter 1993 |title=A Brief History of Percent-for-Art in America |journal=Public Art Review |issue=9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726061624/http://forecastpublicart.org/anthology-downloads/wetenhall.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-26 }}</ref> Calder unveiled the model for ''Flamingo'' on April 23, 1973, at the Art Institute of Chicago; the sculpture was presented to the public for the first time on October 25, 1974, at the same time that Calder's ''Universe'' mobile was unveiled at the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower). The day was proclaimed "Alexander Calder Day" and featured a circus parade.<ref name="calder" />
== Spatial relationships == thumb|''Flamingo'' as viewed from the Willis Tower skydeck thumb|Flamingo sculpture in relation to the surrounding buildings.
Despite the massive size of the sculpture, its design is such that viewers can walk underneath and around it, thus enabling one to perceive it in human scale.<ref name="pag" /> The shape of ''Flamingo'' alludes to the natural and animal realm, which is a stark contrast to more literal interpretations in sculpture from previous decades.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joan Marter |author-link=Joan Marter |date=July–August 1998 |title=The Legacy of Alexander Calder |magazine=Sculpture |volume=17 |issue=6}}</ref>
Calder's structure is a prominent example of the constructivist movement, first popularized in Russia in the early 20th century. Constructivism refers to sculpture that is made from smaller pieces which are joined.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hubbard |first=Guy |date=January 2002 |title=Constructivism |magazine=Arts & Activities |volume=130 |issue=6 |page=37}}</ref>
A maquette of the stabile was formerly displayed inside the Loop Station post office in the Federal Plaza.<ref name="higdon" /> It currently resides in the Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing.
== See also == * List of Alexander Calder public works * List of public art in Chicago * ''Flying Dragon'', a nearby Calder sculpture also utilizing the color Calder red
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!5142~!0#focus Entry in Inventory of American Sculpture/Save Outdoor Sculpture] * [https://calder.org/works/monumental-sculpture/flamingo-1973/ ''Flamingo''] @ Calder.org
{{Alexander Calder}} {{Public art in Chicago}}
Category:1974 sculptures Category:Outdoor sculptures in Chicago Category:Sculptures by Alexander Calder Category:Sculptures of birds in Illinois Category:Steel sculptures in Illinois Category:Flamingos in popular culture