Alexander Calder

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I've watched a documentary on him, and it makes me wonder if he had Asperger's.







Mercury fountain. I love this.

Maybe the comment that all scientists were a little bit autistic applies to artists too.

Could be, but I think calling all creative or scientific geniuses aspies is reaching. Some seem to really show the signs. I think Calder fits this possibility more than someone like Jackson Pollock.

is he the guy who did the mickey mouse paintings?

I'm not saying all artists and scientists have Asperger's. That would be ridiculous. I guess this is one of those times when I know what I mean but can't adequately communicate it. Let me put it this way; I've often thought the artist and the scientist are acting on the same impulse but choose different avenues of expression. That curiosity or wonder or desire to master I consider an autistic trait. That's why whoever said that comment first ( I forgot who) said "little bit".

I associate him mostly with mobiles.

What was the name of the documentary? I'm not too knowledgeable about Calder so I can't say one way or another, but I am aware of some other artists that would make good candidates.

One of the best examples is Willem De Kooning (1904 - 1997). Reading his biography it seems a shame that Asperger's Syndome was so little understood when he was active. It's almost comical reading about how he would focus on certain parts of a painting obsessively, and how his modus operandi was to work only on one painting for a long period of time. He would do the same thing with books, notably Wittengenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. He was so obsessed with painting that when his girlfriend was telling him that she was pregnant he couldn't abate drawing in the air with his finger, still thinking about his work. He was horrible with social cues; right after being robbed he walked right past a policeman without getting his attention.

Probably the best example of a famous artist that might have had Asperger's Syndrome is Andy Warhol. His comments about wanting to be (like) a machine are quite revealing, and his indifference to others is legendary.

DeKooning was a handsome old coot too, even into his 90's.


here's an example of his work

That's a fine painting of his. I think the photograph was from the late 1950's, possibly early 1960's.

I think that Aimless is right to write that the thinking behind the best art and science is essentially the same. According to the sculptor Louise Bourgeois, art and science are so similar that they're almost the same thing. Furthermore, I would say that the thinking that best foments achievement in either field is Aspergian in provenance.