Alexander Calder, Théâtre de Nice (ancien titre : Stabile-mobile), 1970, collection MAMAC, Nice ; Parvis nord du Musée Matisse Nice, Villa des Arènes, photo Musée Matisse Nice – L.S. © 2026 Calder Foundation, New York / Adagp, Paris
MAMAC next door
This monumental abstract work in steel, 8 meters high and more than 7 meters wide, is made up of two distinct parts: the stabile (fixed structure) and the mobile (moving element). The stable part is composed of three large black elements fixed by bolts. Balanced on the tip of the structure, the moving part consists of a large steel pendulum on which are hung blue, yellow and red discs.
“I would like to make Mondrians that move,” said Alexander Calder in 1930.
For the duration of the requalification work on the Promenade du Paillon, the work is presented on the north forecourt of the Matisse Museum Nice (Villa des Arènes).
The Stabile-mobile will find a particularly relevant context on this forecourt: the work of Alexander Calder is not unrelated to that of Henri Matisse, in particular the cut-out gouaches which also work on a vocabulary of simple and colorful shapes. Both free and dynamic, they help to animate the surrounding space. When he met the artist on the occasion of his exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Louis Carré in 1946, Matisse said to him, “You are a magician”, thereby affirming his admiration. Thus placed in the garden of the Arènes de Cimiez, the magic of Calder will be a wonderful foreword to entering the world of Matisse.
The work has been installed on the forecourt of MAMAC since his inauguration in 1990.
