Behind the works of every legendary artist, what may be hidden is a bumpy life story or a strong soul after death and resurrection, and because of this, their works will be so touching.
Niki de Saint Phalle, formerly known as Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle, was born in 1930 in a conservative traditional Catholic family in France. With her beautiful feature, she became a fashion model during her teenage years. At the age of 16, she became the cover of the well-known American magazine, “LIFE”. Three years later, she successfully appeared in the cover of November issue of the famous “Vogue” magazine. In order to escape the extremely depressing native family, she ran away with Cambridge Matthews, who had known six years, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 18. After that, she gave birth to two children. While her husband studied music at Harvard University, Saint Phalle began to create different media and styles in her painting. "Niki" is the name she has been used ever since she entered primary school at the age of 7.
Saint Phalle thought that building a family early would escape the oppression of the native family, but after rushing into marriage and giving birth to two children, she found that she was still caught in the reincarnation of the bourgeois lifestyle. In addition to the shadow of his father's sexual assault in her childhood, Saint Phalle was once collapsed and admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment. With the encouragement of the psychotherapist, Saint Phalle i used painting as a means of treatment. In 1952, Saint Phalle and her husband moved to Paris, and she began frequently to visit famous works by France, Spain and Italy. She met her art mentor Hugh Weiss in 1954, and the American artist encouraged her to continue exploring her self-taught artistic style.
Saint Phalle ended her first marriage in 1953. She met her second husband, Jean Tinguely, in 1966, until they were officially married in 1971. This Swiss Dadaist painter and sculptor, famous for his "Kinetic Art" creation, is very supportive of her bold artistic creations. Saint Phalle and Tinguely had co-created many sculptures, including the "Fontaine Igor Stravinsky" created in 1983 and "Fontaine de Château-Chinon" created in 1988.
The famous "Tirs" was the masterpiece of Saint Phalle. Originally, it was only through a target and shirt work to vent their emotions, and later evolved into a series of unique performances with rifle shooting and well-built paintworks. This series of works full of artistic nature expresses violence and expresses a strong complaint against the patriarchal society, religious worship, and social class with "shooting" works. The act of "shooting" works has become a pioneering work of contemporary art, letting her join the rebellious ranks of avant-garde art. This series of works has also successfully opened her popularity and was invited to perform in the art museums of Paris, Sweden, Malibu, Amsterdam and other places.
If the ‘shooting art’ is a transitional period in which she explores women's roles, then "NaNa" series pays tribute to women of all races. Although the creation of this series is inspired by the pregnant wife of the American artist Larry Rivers’s wife, Saint Phalle casted the female image of different races into the colorful and rich body, giving the woman a confident and fresh image.
During her visit to Spain, Saint Phalle was inspired by the idea of the use of multiple media by architect Antonio Gaudí, who also planned to build a monumental fairytale sculpture park like Park Güell. She has been betting on the park for more than 20 years and was finally opened in 1998, named "Giardino dei Tarocchi". Saint Phalle designed the 22 cards in the Tarot card to make colorful statues of polyester, ceramics, mirrors, mosaics, cement, etc.
The image of Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden was recently reappeared in Beijing, China. Inspired by the Tarot Garden, the Today Art Museum in Beijing hosted a large solo exhibition "Niki de Saint Phalle: Legendary Female Artist of the 20th Century and Her Wonderland”. The exhibition will be held from now until 10th March, this exhibition will feature important works from the 1960s, including her practice in painting, sculpture, performing arts, conceptual art, feminist art, and large public art and film.
Saint Phalle's prolific works was collected by many collectors and important institutions around the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Yale University, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the Tate Gallery, the Setagaya Art Museum and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea. A large number of important works by Saint Phalle were also donated to the Spencengel Museum in Hannover, Germany, and the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC).
Figure 1：Niki de Saint Phalle, Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, Kit Carson Park, Escondido, California. Photo: JS © Niki de Saint Phalle
Figure 2 left top：View of Tarot Garden © Niki de Saint Phalle
Figure 2 right top：Portrait of Niki de Saint Phalle © Niki de Saint Phalle
Figure 2 left bottom：Niki de Saint Phalle, Black Rosy, 1965 © Niki de Saint Phalle
Figure 2 right bottom：Niki de Saint Phalle, Dear Diana I’m so happy!, 1968 © 2015 Niki Chritable art foundation
