Horizontal, Metal sculpture in 4th arrondissement, France

Horizontal is a metal sculpture by Alexander Calder, a work in black metal with geometric forms standing in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The construction shows angular and curved lines that together create a balanced and dynamic composition.

Horizontal was made in 1974, one of Calder's last works before his death in 1976, and entered the French national collections through a dation. It was shown at the Centre Pompidou in 1983 in the exhibition "Œuvres monumentales de la collection du musée national d'Art moderne", then placed on the parvis de la Défense in 1992 for "Les Monuments de Calder". It stayed out of public view for nearly 20 years before being set on the esplanade in front of the Centre Pompidou on 28 June 2011, where the Pot doré by Jean-Pierre Raynaud had stood until its removal in 2009.

Calder called the piece a "stabile-mobile": a fixed black metal foot of four triangular parts meeting at their apex holds a horizontal arrow, from which hang five painted metal petals — black and red on one side, yellow, blue and red on the other. The petals balance the arrow, which can turn on its axis, so the work moves with the wind above the parvis.

The work stands on the open esplanade in front of the Centre Pompidou, on the site of the former Pot doré removed in 2009. The installation was planned to remain for several years, so check before a trip whether it is still in place. The arrow can turn on its axis, so the arrangement of the five petals changes with the wind.

Horizontal was first shown at the Centre Pompidou in 1983, then moved to the parvis de la Défense in 1992 for the exhibition "Les Monuments de Calder". It then stayed out of public view for nearly 20 years before returning to the Pompidou esplanade on 28 June 2011, on the spot previously occupied by Jean-Pierre Raynaud's Pot doré, removed in 2009.