Take a trip outside the city this fall to marvel at the sculptures of Alexander Calder, the master of balance, motion and artful engineering. You may have seen a work or two as part of museum collections over the years, but this is the first major Calder retrospective held in New England in 50 years. The exhibition presents a smattering of works produced throughout his career: the iconic mobiles (a term coined at Marcel Duchamp’s suggestion), static sculptures and maquettes of monumental pieces stationed around the world, all accompanied by subtly dissonant layers of music from modernist composers like John Cage and Erik Satie. Pull up a chair and submit for an hour or so to the sculptures’ hypnotic movement and the play of shadows on the walls. We suggest visiting on a Tuesday afternoon or a quiet Sunday for the full effect.

Calder and Abstraction: From Avant-Garde to Iconic On view 9/6–1/5
@Peabody Essex Museum (PEM)
Tues-Sun 10am-5pm $18 Adults/$10 Students