The Four Elements, Kinetic sculpture at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

The Four Elements is a kinetic sculpture on Skeppsholmen island featuring four metal sheets rising to about 30 feet, with motorized components that continuously move. The painted metal elements rotate and respond to environmental conditions, creating a structure that changes its visual form throughout the day.

Alexander Calder created this kinetic sculpture in 1961 for a movement-focused exhibition at Moderna Museet, drawing on an earlier 1938 design. The work represented a peak in the artist's exploration of movement and mechanical dynamics as a form of creative expression.

The title refers to the four classical elements, each carried by one of the four painted steel sheets. The work arrived for the 1961 exhibition Movement in Art and was left outside the museum afterwards, becoming a symbol of Moderna Museet. It now stands in the museum's sculpture park on Skeppsholmen.

The sculpture sits in the open-air park surrounding Moderna Museet on Skeppsholmen island, which is freely accessible year-round. Visitors should know that strong winds or cold weather can sometimes affect the movement of the metal elements.

The full-scale work was made after a 1938 Calder model that Pontus Hultén saw in the sculptor's studio and proposed to build at full size. The painted steel sheets were shipped from New York for the 1961 exhibition Rörelse i konsten, and the piece stayed outside the museum afterwards.