Bent Propeller
Continuing our reflection on works of art in our new exhibition, We Remember: Stories from the September 11 Memorial and Museum, we turn to the most coveted and profound works that connect us to those lost in the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001.
Alexander Calder’s (1898-1976) monumental work Bent Propeller (1970) stood on the main plaza at the foot of the World Trade Center, at the base of the North Tower. Commissioned in 1969 by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey during construction of the complex, the 25-foot-tall sculpture was officially installed on the outdoor plaza in 1970.
Unlike Calder’s famous balanced, wind-driven mobiles, Bent Propeller was a stabile, a stationary sculpture anchored firmly to the ground. Constructed from nearly two-inch-thick sheet steel, it featured three sweeping, interconnected sheet-metal blades painted in Calder’s signature bright red hue known as Calder Red.
Bent Propeller’s curved, organic forms provided a deliberate visual contrast to the rigid, vertical, grid-like geometry of the towers.
In the wreckage after the World Trade Center collapse, workers and representatives from the Calder Foundation located several fragments of the sculpture. While early recovery efforts salvaged a few recognizable pieces, heavy machinery clearing the wreckage of the towers inadvertently broke apart or destroyed additional sections before they could be identified as art.
Because less than 40% of the sculpture was recovered, coupled with the structural distortion from severe heat, the Calder Foundation determined that Bent Propeller could not be restored or remade.
A portion of this iconic work, salvaged and preserved by the Calder Foundation, is on view in our exhibition, made available through the foundation and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.
Take the opportunity to witness firsthand this massive fragment of Calder’s Bent Propeller at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, displayed for the first time since its retrieval in 2001.
We Remember: Stories from the September 11 Memorial and Museum is presented by the Bielfeldt Foundation.
Sponsored by Advanced Medical Transport, RLI, Mike and Lori Gudat, Patricia and Anthony Cutilletta, Sally Snyder, Lisa and Bob Gates, Craig Kliethermes, John and Julia Chan, Sid P. Ruckriegel and Andrew A. Rand Charitable Foundation, America 250 donors, Visionary Society.
