Niki de Saint Phalle

NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1930 - San Diego, California, 2002).
Untitled.
Marker, colored pencils and collage on paper.
Signed.
Provenance: Private collection, New York (gift of the artist). Later, by inheritance, it passed to the present owner.
Measurements: 27 x 34 cm; 57 x 62 cm (frame).

The drawing in tender is presented as a work of special relevance within Niki de Saint Phalle's production, as it concentrates some of the most representative motifs of her visual universe. The composition is dominated by a Nana, a female figure essential to the artist's identity, characterized by her exuberant forms and intense chromaticism, accompanied by a draconic being whose scales, equally vibrant, refer to another of her recurring icons. It is no coincidence that the sculptures of both motifs reach extraordinary figures at international auctions, which underlines the validity and solidity of Saint Phalle in today's market. The joint presence of these figures reinforces the value of the drawing as a particularly successful synthesis of his plastic imaginary. Added to this is the inclusion of handwritten texts addressed to his doctor, including the note "Dear Dr. Seely. Hello. I hope the check is O.K. The pills anti terror in the plane were great. See you in march", together with Dr. Robert D. Seely's business card, elements that provide an intimate and contextual dimension, suggesting that the work may have emerged as a personal communication deeply linked to the artist's life experience, without detracting from its aesthetic power.

Niki de Saint Phalle was one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century. In 1964 she began to create a series of works entitled "Nanas", which consisted of female figures with voluptuous forms and vivid colors. These sculptures show a contrast between the playful or festive dimension of the object and a much more tragic, violent and pornographic one. In the early 1960s, the artist created the Shooting Paintings. It was in 1966 when she created the largest sculpture of a woman's body in the history of art, which was also part of the "Nanas" series and whose title was "Hon" ("She" in Swedish). A Nana that ceases to be sculpture and becomes architecture. It was installed in the Moderna Musset in Stockholm, under secrecy because it was a rather revolutionary act considering the time in which he made it, so a few days after opening it to the public, they closed the exhibition. In 1979 he began to build a sculpture park, "The Tarot Garden", located near Capalbio. In 1982, together with her husband Jean Tinguely, she built the "Fontaine Stravinsky" or Fountain of the Automatons, located next to the Pompidou Center in Paris. Many of Saint Phalle's sculptures have large dimensions and are exhibited in public spaces. The Niki Charitable Art Foundation maintains an online map and catalog of all its existing public artworks. Le Paradis Fantastique (The Fantastic Paradise, 1967), Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Switzerland (in collaboration with Tinguely). Golem (1971), Kiryat Hayovel, Jerusalem. Hannover Nanas (1973), together with Leibnizufer in Hannover, Germany. La Fontaine Stravinsky (Stravinsky Fountain or Fontaine des automates, 1982) near the Pompidou Center, Paris, Sun God (1983), a fantastic winged creature next to the University of California, San Diego Faculty Club as part of the Stuart Collection of public art.