Lobster Trap and Fish Tail
Calder's 1939 mobile for MoMA's stairwell: a wire lobster trap and a school of aluminum fins balancing overhead — one of the earliest full statements of the hanging mobile.
- 1939
- Painted steel wire and sheet aluminum, about 260 × 290 cm
About Alexander Calder
Made for a stairwell
The Museum of Modern Art commissioned the mobile in 1939 for the main stairwell of its new building, and Calder fabricated it that year at his Roxbury, Connecticut farmhouse. It hangs about two and a half metres tall and nearly three metres across.
The title names what the balancing act suggests. A wire cage like a lobster trap hangs at one end, a school of flat aluminum fins like a fish's tail at the other, and the whole set drifts with the air of the stairwell.
The mobile arrives in public
Coming eight years after Marcel Duchamp coined the word, this was one of the first mobiles made for permanent public display. It is among the earliest to show the full grammar: asymmetric balance, natural imagery abstracted to silhouette, and air as the motor. It has hung at MoMA for most of the museum's history.
Frequently asked questions
Who commissioned Lobster Trap and Fish Tail?
The Museum of Modern Art in New York, in 1939, for the main stairwell of its new building. Calder made the mobile at his farmhouse in Roxbury, Connecticut.
What does Lobster Trap and Fish Tail depict?
Exactly what the title says, abstracted: a wire cage like a lobster trap on one side of the balance, and a run of flat aluminum fins like a fish's tail on the other.
How does the mobile move?
By air alone. The parts hang in asymmetric balance from curving steel wires, so ordinary drafts turn and dip the elements without motors.
How big is Lobster Trap and Fish Tail?
About 260 centimetres high by 290 centimetres across — sized to command a stairwell from above.
Where can I see Lobster Trap and Fish Tail?
At the Museum of Modern Art in New York, hanging in the stairwell setting it was commissioned for in 1939.
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References
The sources below include collection records, catalogues, scholarly research, and primary materials that informed this page. They document Lobster Trap and Fish Tail, its making, and its place in cultural history.
1Alexander Calder, Lobster Trap and Fish Tail — collection page
WebsiteThe Museum of Modern ArtUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Lobster Trap and Fish Tail page.
2Lobster Trap and Fish Tail (1939) — catalogue entry
WebsiteCalder FoundationUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Lobster Trap and Fish Tail page.
3Lobster Trap and Fish Tail
WebsiteWikipediaUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Lobster Trap and Fish Tail page.
4Introduction to Alexander Calder
WebsiteCalder FoundationUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Lobster Trap and Fish Tail page.
These references provide the documented foundation for this work's history and interpretation. Claim-level citations remain attached to the specific claims they support.
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