Niki de Saint Phalle
BIO
Niki de Saint Phalle was born Catherine-Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris, France, in 1930. After the Great Depression, her family moved to the United States in 1933. After being dismissed from the all-girls Brearley School in New York City for painting the fig leaves on the school statues red, she attended Oldfields School in Glencoe, Maryland, graduating in 1947. As a teenager, she was a fashion model, appearing on several magazine covers.
In the early 1960s, the self-taught artist gained notoriety for her “shooting paintings,” created by firing a .22-caliber rifle at a board that contained bags of paint buried under the plaster surface. Later that decade, she explored different roles of women in society through a series of life-size dolls made of papier-mâché, yarn, and cloth, in sculptures she called “Nanas,” French slang for “chicks” or “dames.”
In 1998, de Saint Phalle realized her lifelong dream with the opening of the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy. She died in 2002 of emphysema.
Her work is found in museums, private collections and public spaces around the world, including the Niki Museum in Nasu, Japan; Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, a
sculpture garden in Escondido, California; The Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, Sweden; the Zurich train station; and the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris.
ART
Niki de Saint Phalle is best known for her brightly-painted, oversized female figures representing female empowerment. In Adam and Eve, the two figures are seated side by side enjoying a picnic. The artist’s retelling of the story depicts Eve not as the temptress, but as an equal partner in the relationship. An image of Adam and Eve is found on the tarot card known as The Lovers, a card representing two paths or a crossroad, and a version of this sculpture called The Choice can be found in the Tarot Garden, a monumental sculpture park that the artist created in Garavicchio, Italy.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
ABOUT THE SCULPTURE

Adam and Eve, 1985 – 1989
Painted polyester and fiberglass
78” x 64” x 54”
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Scarecrow, 2006 Tom Claassen
Untitled (Two Rabbits), 2004 Jonathan Clarke
Lifestyle, 2006 Niki de Saint Phalle
Adam & Eve, 1985-1989 Jim Dine
Big White Gloves, Big Four Wheels, 2008 Mark di Suvero
Aesop’s Fables, 1990 Jean-Michel Folon
Voyage, 1999 Laura Ford
Bird, 2007 Keith Haring
Untitled (Ringed Figure), 1987 Käi
Love Vs. Money, 2017 Fernand Léger
Femmes Au Perroquet, 1952 Aristide Maillol
La Riviere, 1938 – 1943 Ju Ming
Tai Chi Singlewhip, 1998 Igor Mitoraj
Eros Bendato, 1999 Julian Opie
Kiera & Julian Walking, 2002
Bruce & Sara Walking, 2007 Tom Otterness
Kindly Geppetto, 2001 Mimmo Paladino
Zenit, 1999 Martin Puryear
Untitled (Bench), 2008 George Rickey
Four Rectangles Oblique, 1979 Tony Smith
Night, 1962 Bernar Venet
2 Arcs X 4, 230.5 Degree, Arc X 5, 1999-2000 Erwin Wurm
Big Suit, 2010 Kan Yasuda
Door of Return, 2001 Jack Youngerman
Samarkand, 1981