Full Breakdown
Calder’s “Mountains and Clouds” Restored in the Hart Senate Office Building
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Restoration
Contractors recently installed four newly fabricated cloud elements to Alexander Calder’s “Mountains and Clouds” sculpture in the marble atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. The carbon-fiber composite slabs, each no more than three inches thick, were hoisted into place on a crisp autumn Saturday, completing a $12 million renovation that restores the work’s intended visual balance of soaring clouds above the steel “mountains.”
Background and Prior Issues
Calder, who died in 1976, created the 51-foot steel “mountains” and accompanying black aluminum “clouds” for the Hart building in 2014. Following a 2011 earthquake, Capitol Hill officials raised safety concerns about the structural integrity of the clouds, leading to their removal and the lowering of the clouds out of view. For roughly 12 years the atrium displayed only the static “mountains,” leaving the ceiling empty and the artwork incomplete.
Funding and Technical Details
The restoration was financed by two private donors, enabling the replacement of the original aluminum clouds with lightweight carbon-fiber sections that mimic the original form while meeting modern safety standards. The new clouds are fastened to the atrium floor and appear to float over the five triangular “mountains” and two curved arcs, preserving Calder’s vision of a combined mobile and stabile composition.
Official Reactions
Capitol officials cited the 2011 earthquake as the trigger for the safety review that prompted the clouds’ removal. Independent consultant Christian Quilici, a longtime advocate for the sculpture, described the earlier removal as a “mutilation of his final masterpiece.” The renovation has been welcomed as a return to Calder’s intended aesthetic and a resolution of the long-standing structural concerns.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It was a mutilation of his final masterpiece,” — Christian Quilici, an independent consultant
