<p>A huge sculpture by American artist Alexander Calder sold at auction in Paris on Wednesday for over 4.9 million euros, auctioneers Artcurial said, after nearly six decades on display at a holiday park in southern France.</p>.<p>The influential sculptor is known primarily for his colourful and abstract mobiles, of which he made thousands over the course of his career.</p>.<p>But he also made "stabiles" -- the opposite of mobiles -- one of which remained concealed from the general public in La Colle-sur-Loup village, a few dozen kilometres from the ritzy city Cannes.</p>.<p>The black steel 3,5 metre (11 foot) structure was made by Calder in 1963.</p>.<p>"It's the first time that a monumental stabile of this scale by Calder came up for auction in France," said Hugues Sebilleau, the head of Artcurial's contemporary art department.</p>.<p>It was installed six years later in front of a holiday park which aims to attract low-income families by maintaining affordable prices.</p>.<p>The free-standing stabile was sold by the current owner of the holiday park Belambra Clubs. It was estimated to be worth between 2.5 and 3.5 million euros ($2.8-4.0 million).</p>.<p>"The stabile is completely characteristic of Calder's style at the time. The structure is very assertive and well planted on its four bearing points," said sales expert Serge Lemoine.</p>.<p>"Rhythm and space are the vital compositions. The curves respond to the angles and the surfaces respond to the voids," Lemoine said.</p>.<p>Trained as an engineer, Calder used a wide variety of media to make more than 22,000 works before he died in 1976.</p>
<p>A huge sculpture by American artist Alexander Calder sold at auction in Paris on Wednesday for over 4.9 million euros, auctioneers Artcurial said, after nearly six decades on display at a holiday park in southern France.</p>.<p>The influential sculptor is known primarily for his colourful and abstract mobiles, of which he made thousands over the course of his career.</p>.<p>But he also made "stabiles" -- the opposite of mobiles -- one of which remained concealed from the general public in La Colle-sur-Loup village, a few dozen kilometres from the ritzy city Cannes.</p>.<p>The black steel 3,5 metre (11 foot) structure was made by Calder in 1963.</p>.<p>"It's the first time that a monumental stabile of this scale by Calder came up for auction in France," said Hugues Sebilleau, the head of Artcurial's contemporary art department.</p>.<p>It was installed six years later in front of a holiday park which aims to attract low-income families by maintaining affordable prices.</p>.<p>The free-standing stabile was sold by the current owner of the holiday park Belambra Clubs. It was estimated to be worth between 2.5 and 3.5 million euros ($2.8-4.0 million).</p>.<p>"The stabile is completely characteristic of Calder's style at the time. The structure is very assertive and well planted on its four bearing points," said sales expert Serge Lemoine.</p>.<p>"Rhythm and space are the vital compositions. The curves respond to the angles and the surfaces respond to the voids," Lemoine said.</p>.<p>Trained as an engineer, Calder used a wide variety of media to make more than 22,000 works before he died in 1976.</p>