‘Clouds’ set to return to Senate’s Alexander Calder masterpiece

The Hart Senate Office Building atrium is regaining a piece of its history. Alexander Calder’s famous hanging mobile, Mountains and Clouds, returns next month after a ten-year absence. The four aluminum clouds were removed in 2014 following seismic safety studies conducted after the 2011 earthquake shook Washington, D.C. They have remained in storage while the steel mountains stood unadorned in the atrium.

Senator Chris Murphy, who has pushed for the restoration for nearly a decade, confirmed that the new, structurally sound clouds will be back in place when the Senate returns from the August recess. While the original installation featured motorized motion, the immediate focus is on reinstallation. Murphy noted that the project is entirely privately funded, following legislative changes that allowed for non-taxpayer support of the work.

Since their removal, the 51-foot-high steel mountains have served as a reminder of the incomplete masterpiece. Murphy described the separation as akin to displaying a halved painting, emphasizing that the clouds are an integral component of the sculpture’s identity. Although the motor feature may not be active upon the return in September, the restoration marks a significant conclusion to a long-standing effort to return the sculpture to its intended state.

This update comes alongside broader legislative activity in the Senate, including committee votes on education agency appointments and tax administration policies. As the Senate prepares for the upcoming recess, the return of the Calder sculpture stands as a rare moment of aesthetic restoration amidst a packed calendar of committee markups and confirmation hearings.