The Lumbering Spider of Alexander Calder

It was easy enough to be drawn to this sculpture by Alexander Calder, as we in Chicago are familiar with the red Calder Flamingo.  This one, outside the National Gallery in Washington DC, is foreboding and menacing like a giant spider.  Calder may have rendered into art what we see:  It resembles a spider, but out of fright it doesn't quite have the form of one.  Imagine us running for our life, as this monstrosity lumbers along the manicured suburban lawns.  

Arching, arabesque forms energize the sculpture and reveal Calder's famous sense of humor, playfulness and sheer delight with the world. The form of Tom's Cubicle may be read as a whimsical, imaginary animal moving forward on its seven legs. "Tom" refers to Tom Messer, director of New York's Guggenheim Museum at the time when the sculpture was first exhibited there in 1967.

Reference:  Tom's Cubicle.