View source for Niki de Saint Phalle

{{short description|French plastician, painter and sculptor}}
<!-- EDITORIAL NOTE: "Niki de Saint Phalle" should be briefly referred to as "Saint Phalle", in accordance with the majority of written works about her, including her own publications and the Niki Charitable Art Foundation specified by her will -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Niki de Saint Phalle
| honorific_suffix =
| image            = Niki de Saint Phalle by Lothar Wolleh.jpg
| alt              =
| caption          = 1970 portrait by [[Lothar Wolleh]]
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name       = Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle<ref name="LW1930-49"/>
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1930|10|29}}
| birth_place      = [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], France
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|05|21|1930|10|29}}
| death_place      = [[La Jolla, California]], US
| resting_place    =
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
<!-- Deprecated parameter, but preserve reference for future use| nationality= French, American, Swiss<ref name="Swissinfo">{{cite web |title=40 years of Niki's nanas |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/40-years-of-niki-s-nanas/4356222 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |date=27 October 2005 |publisher=Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR |access-date=3 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref> -->
| education        = Self-taught in art<ref name="Neal">{{cite news|last1=Neal|first1=Jane|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: The power of playfulness |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3671457/Niki-de-Saint-Phalle-The-power-of-playfulness.html|access-date=18 April 2017|work=Telegraph|date=26 February 2008|language=en}}</ref>
| alma_mater       =
| known_for        = Sculpture, painting, filmmaking
| notable_works    = ''Tirs''<br/>''Nanas''<br/>''[[Tarot Garden]]''
| style            = [[Nouveau réalisme]], [[Feminist art]]
| movement         =
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Harry Mathews]]|1949|1961|end=divorced}}<ref name="NCAF201701">{{cite web|title=January 2017 – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/2017/01/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=13 April 2017}}</ref><br />{{marriage|[[Jean Tinguely]]|1971|1991|end=his death}}
| awards           = [[Prix Caran d’Ache]] (1994)<br />[[Praemium Imperiale]] (2000)<!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) -->
| elected          =
| patrons          = [[Agnelli family]]
| memorials        =
| website          = {{URL|nikidesaintphalle.org}}
| module           =
}}
'''Niki de Saint Phalle''' ({{IPA|fr|niki d(ə) sɛ̃ fal|lang}}; born '''Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle''';<ref name="LW1930-49"/> 29 October 1930{{spaced ndash}}21 May 2002) was a French<ref name="NVAF-Video">{{cite web|title=Video Clips|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/video-clips/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="GP-Brochure"/> sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female [[monumental sculpture|monumental sculptors]],<ref name="Muchnic"/> Saint Phalle was also known for her social commitment and work.<ref>{{Cite book|title=50 women artists you should know|last=Christiane.|first=Weidemann|date=2008|publisher=Prestel|others=Larass, Petra., Klier, Melanie, 1970–|isbn=978-3-7913-3956-6|location=Munich|oclc=195744889|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/50womenartistsyo0000weid}}</ref><ref name="Sluiter"/>

She had a difficult and traumatic childhood and a much-disrupted education, which she wrote about many decades later. After an early marriage and two children, she began creating art in a naïve, experimental style. She first received worldwide attention for angry, violent [[assemblage (art)|assemblages]] which had been shot by firearms. These evolved into ''Nanas'', light-hearted, whimsical, colorful, large-scale sculptures of animals, monsters, and female figures. Her most comprehensive work was the ''[[Tarot Garden]]'', a large [[sculpture garden]] containing numerous works ranging up to house-sized creations.

Saint Phalle's idiosyncratic style has been called "[[outsider art]]"; she had no formal training in art,<ref name="Neal"/> but associated freely with many other contemporary artists, writers, and composers.<ref name="Robb"/> Her books and abundant correspondence were written and brightly colored in a childish style, but throughout her lifetime she addressed many controversial and important global problems in the bold way children often use to question and call out unacceptable neglect.<ref name="Sluiter">{{cite web |last1=Sluiter |first1=Johanna |title=Niki de Saint Phalle's Vibrant, Multidimensional Universe |url=https://hyperallergic.com/636713/niki-de-saint-phalle-structures-for-life-moma-ps1/ |website=Hyperallergic |access-date=11 June 2021 |date=11 April 2021}}</ref>

Throughout her creative career, she collaborated with other well-known artists such as [[Jasper Johns]], [[Robert Rauschenberg]], [[Larry Rivers]], composer [[John Cage]], and architect [[Mario Botta]], as well as dozens of lesser-known artists and craftspersons. For several decades, she worked especially closely with Swiss [[kinetic art]]ist [[Jean Tinguely]], who also became her second husband. In her later years, she suffered from multiple chronic health problems attributed to repeated exposure to airborne glass fibers and petrochemical fumes from the experimental materials she had used in her pioneering artworks, but she continued to create prolifically until the end of her life.

A critic has observed that Saint Phalle's "insistence on exuberance, emotion and sensuality, her pursuit of the figurative and her bold use of color have not endeared her to everyone in a minimalist age".<ref name="Cohen">{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Roger|title=At Home With: Niki de Saint Phalle; An Artist, Her Monsters, Her Two Worlds|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/07/garden/at-home-with-niki-de-saint-phalle-an-artist-her-monsters-her-two-worlds.html|access-date=22 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=7 October 1993}}</ref> She was well known in Europe,<ref name="Cohen" /> but her work was little-seen in the US, until her final years in [[San Diego]]. Another critic said: "The French-born, American-raised artist is one of the most significant female and feminist artists of the 20th century, and one of the few to receive recognition in the male-dominated art world during her lifetime".<ref name="Jansen">{{cite web|last1=Jansen|first1=Charlotte |title=The Art of Niki de Saint Phalle: A Rebel Through and Through |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mutualart/the-art-of-niki-de-saint_b_10934168.html |website=Huffington Post |access-date=22 April 2017 |date=12 July 2016}}</ref>

== Early life and education (1930–1948) ==
Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle was born on 29 October 1930, in [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris.<ref name="LW1930-49">{{cite web|title=Life & Work (1930–1949) – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/biography/#1960-1964|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Fok">{{cite web|last1=Fok|first1=Kevin|title=Biografia of Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://www.mam.gov.mo/oldmam/showcontent.asp?item_id=20060708020300&lc=3|publisher=Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao S.A.R.|access-date=11 April 2017|archive-date=12 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412064245/http://www.mam.gov.mo/oldmam/showcontent.asp?item_id=20060708020300&lc=3|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her father was Count André-Marie de Saint Phalle (1906–1967), a French banker, and her mother was an American, Jeanne Jacqueline Harper (1908–1980).<ref>"Jacqueline Harper American Lawyer's Daughter Marries Count Andre de St. Phalle at Château de Fillerval", ''New York Times'' 7 June 1927</ref><ref>Biographical information, title of count, and birth dates cited in Joseph Valynseele's ''Les maréchaux de la Restauration te de la Monarchies de Juillet, leur famille et leur descendance'' (1962), page 292</ref><ref group="Note">According to the Saint Phalles' wedding announcement in ''Town and Country'' (1927), Jeanne Jacqueline Harper, known as Jacqueline, was a daughter of Donald Harper, an American living in Paris, France, and his wife, the former Jeanne Bernard.</ref> Marie-Agnès was the second of five children,<ref name="LW1930-49" /> and her cousins included the French novelist Thérèse de Saint Phalle (Baroness Jehan de Drouas),{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} her double cousin,<ref name=Saint-Phalle>{{cite news |title=JACQUELINE HARPER WEDS FRENCH COUNT; American Lawyer's Daughter Marries Andre de St. Pha!le at Chateau de Fillervai. FAMILIES TWICE UNITED Helene, an Elder Sister of Bride. Is Wife of Bridegroom's Brother Alexandre. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/06/07/archives/jacquelilqe-harper-weds-frfclt-coit-american-lawyers-daughter.html |access-date=2 April 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 June 1927}}</ref> daughter of Count Alexandre de Saint Phalle (brother of Count André-Marie) and his wife Helene Georgia Harper (sister of Jeanne Jacqueline).<ref>{{cite news|title=HELENE HARPER WEDS COUNT DE ST. PHALLE; Daughter of Prominent New York and Paris Lawyer Marries Banker at Father's Chateau.|date=7 April 1920
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/04/07/archives/helene-harper-weds-count-de-st-phalle-daughter-of-prominent-new.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/45/a9002945.shtml|title=The RAF Escape Story of Sergeant Jack Marsden |work=[[BBC WW2 People's War]]|date=31 January 2006|access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref> Another cousin was the American-born investment banker, lawyer, and former [[Office of Strategic Services]] agent [[Thibaut de Saint Phalle]], who served in the [[Carter administration]] as a director of the [[Export–Import Bank of the United States]] (1977-1981).<ref name=Saint-Phalle/><ref>{{Cite news|title=NAVY MAN WEDS ROSAMOND FRAME; Lieut. Thibault de Saint Phalle Takes Mt. Holyoke Alumna as Bride in Cathedral Rectory SHE HAS FIDE ATTENDANTS Both Served With the OSS in Orient--Bridegroom Formerly Was With Law Firm Here| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/01/13/305621402.html|access-date=26 September 2021|language=en}}</ref>

Marie-Agnès was born one year after [[Black Tuesday]], and the French economy was also suffering in the aftermath of the infamous [[stock market crash]] that initiated the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="Levy"/> Within months of her birth, her father's finance company closed, and her parents moved with her oldest brother to the suburbs of New York City; she was left with her maternal grandparents in [[Nièvre]], near the geographical center of France.<ref name="Levy"/> Around 1933, she rejoined her parents in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]]; her father had found work as manager of the American branch of the Saint Phalle family's bank.<ref name="Robb"/> In 1937, the family moved to East 88th Street and [[Park Avenue]]<ref name="NYC-NCAF">{{cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle And New York |url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle-and-new-york/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=25 May 2020 |date=9 March 2020}}</ref> in the affluent [[Upper East Side]] neighborhood of New York City.<ref name="Cohen"/><ref name="Fok"/> By this time, Marie-Agnès was known as "Niki", the name she would use from then on.<ref name="Fok"/>

Niki grew up in a strict [[Catholic]] environment, against which she repeatedly rebelled.<ref name="Lipton">{{cite web|last1=Lipton|first1=Eunice|title=The Darkness Behind Niki de Saint Phalle's Colorful Beauties|url=https://hyperallergic.com/177324/the-darkness-behind-niki-de-saint-phalles-colorful-beauties/|website=Hyperallergic|access-date=29 March 2017|date=26 January 2015}}</ref> Her mother was temperamental and violent, beating the younger children, and forcing them to eat even if they were not hungry.<ref name="Levy"/> Both of her younger siblings, Elizabeth and Richard de Saint Phalle, would later commit suicide as adults.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Schjeldahl">{{cite magazine |last1=Schjeldahl |first1=Peter |title=The Pioneering Feminism of Niki de Saint Phalle |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/05/the-pioneering-feminism-of-niki-de-saint-phalle |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=31 March 2021 |language=en-us}}</ref> The atmosphere at home was tense; the only place where Niki felt comfortable and warm was in the kitchen, overseen by a black cook.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|74}} Decades later, Niki would reveal that she had suffered years of [[sexual abuse]] from her father, starting at the age of 11.<ref name="Lipton"/><ref name="Webster">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jun/20/paulwebster.theobserver |title=Sculptor finally exorcises her rapist father |first=Paul|last=Webster |date=20 June 1999 |work=The Guardian |access-date=29 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="Cohen"/><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|74}} She would later refer to the environment where she grew up as ''enfer'' ("hell").<ref name="Kearney"/>

She spent most of her childhood and adolescence in New York City, and summers in Connecticut or on Long Island.<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/> She frequently returned to France to visit relatives,<ref name="LW1930-49"/> becoming fluent in both French and [[American English]].<ref name="Cohen"/> In 1937, she attended school at the [[Convent of the Sacred Heart (New York City)|Convent of the Sacred Heart]] on East 91st Street in Manhattan. After she was expelled in 1941, she rejoined her maternal grandparents, who had moved to [[Princeton, New Jersey]], and briefly attended the public school there.<ref name="Fok"/>

She returned to the Upper East Side and studied there at the [[Brearley School]] from 1942 to 1944.<ref name="Lipton"/> There, she met [[Jackie Matisse]], granddaughter of artist [[Henri Matisse]]; they would become lifelong friends.<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/> However, Saint Phalle was dismissed for painting in red the [[fig leaves]] on the school's classical statuary.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Niki de Saint Phalle (Obituary)|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1395427/Niki-de-Saint-Phalle.html|access-date=8 April 2017|work=The Telegraph|date=27 May 2002|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Johnson"/> Despite this, she would later say it was there "[that] I became a feminist. They inculcated in us that women can and must accomplish great things."<ref name="Lipton"/><ref name="NYC-NCAF"/> She was then enrolled in a [[convent school]] in [[Suffern, New York]],<ref name="Levy"/> but was expelled.<ref name="Hess">{{cite web|last1=Hess|first1=Hugo|title=Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://www.widewalls.ch/artist/niki-de-saint-phalle/|website=WideWalls|access-date=25 April 2017}}</ref> She finally graduated from the [[Oldfields School]] in [[Glencoe, Maryland]] in 1947.<ref name="Fok"/>

During her late teenage years, Saint Phalle became a fashion model; at the age of 18, she appeared on the cover of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' (26 September 1949)<ref name="Nechvatal"/> and, three years later, on the November 1952 cover of ''[[Vogue Paris|French Vogue]]''.<ref name="Nechvatal"/><ref name="LW1930-49"/> She also appeared in the pages of ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]''<ref name="Lesso">{{cite web |last1=Lesso |first1=Rosie |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: An Iconic Art World Rebel |url=https://www.thecollector.com/niki-de-saint-phalle-art-world-rebel/ |website=TheCollector |access-date=17 February 2022 |language=en |date=1 December 2019}}</ref> and ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]''.

"At one point,{{when|date=July 2022}} [[Gloria Steinem]] spotted Saint Phalle walking down [[57th Street (Manhattan)|Fifty-seventh Street]], purseless and in a cowboy getup. In an interview quoted by the show’s curator, Ruba Katrib, in the catalogue, Steinem recalled thinking, 'That is the first free woman I have ever seen in real life. I want to be just like her.'"<ref name="Schjeldahl"/><ref name="Steinhauer">{{cite web |last1=Steinhauer |first1=Jillian |title=The Fantasias of Niki de Saint Phalle |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/niki-de-saint-phalle/ |website=The Nation |access-date=27 June 2024 |date=5 April 2022}}</ref>

== First marriage and children (1949–1960) ==
[[File:Niki de Saint Phalle (1964) by Erling Mandelmann.jpg|thumb|upright|Niki de Saint Phalle in 1964]]
[[File:Niki de Saint Phalle St 4.jpg|thumb|Parts of ''Le Paradis Fantastique'' (1967–1971), an early collaboration of Saint Phalle and [[Jean Tinguely]]]]
At the age of 18, Saint Phalle married [[Harry Mathews]], whom she had first met at the age of 11 (he was 12) through her father.<ref name="Levy">{{cite magazine|last1=Levy|first1=Ariel|title=Beautiful Monsters|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/18/niki-de-saint-phalles-tarot-garden|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=28 March 2017|date=18 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="Lipton" /><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|91}} Six years later, they again encountered each other by chance on a train to Princeton, and soon became a couple.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|91}} Initially, they had a [[civil marriage|civil ceremony]] on 6 June 1949 in [[New York City Hall]].<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|91}}  At the urging of Niki's mother, they also had a religious rite at the French Church of New York the following February.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|91}}

Although her parents accepted the union, her husband's family objected to her Catholic background and cut them off financially, causing them to resort to occasional [[shoplifting]].<ref name="Levy"/> They moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] so Mathews could study music at [[Harvard University]].<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Fok"/> Saint Phalle began to paint in oils and [[gouache]]s but aimed to pursue a career in acting.<ref name="LW1950-59">{{cite web|title=Life & Work (1950–1959) – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/biography/#1950-1959|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Fok"/> Their first child, [[Laura Duke Condominas|Laura]], was born in April 1951. In 1952, the small family moved to Paris, where Harry continued his studies in conducting at [[École Normale de Musique de Paris|I’Ecole Normale de Musique]].<ref name="Fok"/> The new parents were casual, even negligent in their care,<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|93}}<ref name="Levy"/> but their children would benefit from better financial circumstances after Mathews received an inheritance.<ref name="Levy"/>

Saint Phalle rejected the staid, conservative values of her family, which dictated domestic positions for wives and particular strict rules of conduct.<ref name="Lipton"/> Poet [[John Ashbery]] recalled that Saint Phalle's artistic pursuits were rejected in turn by relatives: her uncle "French banker Count Alexandre de Saint-Phalle, ... reportedly takes a dim view of her artistic activities", Ashbery observed.<ref group="Note">According to John Ashbery, Alexandre de Saint-Phalle was the brother of Niki de Saint Phalle's father and also married to her mother's sister, the former Helen Georgia Harper, as explained in "Jacqueline Harper Marries Count: American Lawyer's Daughter Marries Andre de St. Phalle at Château de Fillerval", ''The New York Times'', 7 June 1927. See John Ashbery, ''Reported Sightings: Art Chronicles, 1957–1987'' (Carcanet, 1989).</ref> However, after marrying young and becoming a mother, she found herself living the same [[bourgeois]] lifestyle that she had attempted to escape.<ref name="Robb"/>

For about a decade, the family would wander around France and Europe, living a [[bohemian lifestyle]]. In [[Nice]], Saint Phalle and Mathews would have separate [[affair]]s in 1953; after she attacked her husband's mistress, she took an overdose of [[sleeping pill]]s, but they had little effect because she was [[mania|manic]] at the time.<ref name="Levy"/> When Harry discovered a stash of knives, razors, and scissors under a mattress, he took his wife to a mental clinic in Nice, where she was treated with [[electroshock therapy]] and [[insulin shock therapy]].<ref name="Lipton" /><ref name="Levy"/> Liberated from routine household work, she focused on creating artwork instead and improved enough to be discharged in six weeks.<ref name="Levy"/> Around the same time, her husband abandoned his music studies and started to write his first novel, eventually switching to a career in writing.<ref name="Fok"/>

While in Paris on a modeling assignment in 1954, Saint Phalle was introduced to the American-French painter {{Interlanguage link|Hugh Weiss|fr}}, who became both her friend and artistic mentor. He encouraged her to continue painting in her self-taught style.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Robb"/>

In September 1954, the small family moved to [[Deià]], [[Majorca]], Spain, where her son Philip was born in May 1955.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|93}}<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Fok"/> While in Spain, Saint Phalle read the works of [[Proust]] and visited [[Madrid]] and [[Barcelona]], where she became deeply affected by the work of architect [[Antoni Gaudí]].<ref name="Pincus"/> Gaudí's influence opened many previously unimagined possibilities for Saint Phalle, especially the use of unusual materials and ''[[found object|objets-trouvés]]'' as structural elements in sculpture and architecture. Saint Phalle was particularly struck by Gaudí's "[[Park Güell]]" which would inspire her to one day create her own garden-based artwork that would combine artistic and [[nature|natural]] elements.

Saint Phalle continued to paint, particularly after she and her family moved to Paris in the mid-1950s. Her first art exhibition was held in 1956 in Switzerland, where she displayed her [[naïve art|naïve style]] of oil painting.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1956, she met the Swiss artist [[Jean Tinguely]] and his wife, artist [[Eva Aeppli]]. Saint Phalle attempted her first large-scale sculpture, enlisting Tinguely to make an iron [[armature (sculpture)|armature]], which she covered with [[plaster]] and paint.<ref name="Fok"/>

In the late 1950s, Saint Phalle became ill with [[hyperthyroidism]] and [[tachycardia]], which were eventually treated by an operation in 1958.<ref name="MathewsLiving">{{cite web|last1=Mathews|first1=Harry|title=Living with Niki|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/living-niki|website=Tate|access-date=15 April 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923023201/http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/living-niki|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1959, Saint Phalle first encountered multiple artworks by [[Yves Klein]], [[Marcel Duchamp]], [[Daniel Spoerri]], [[Willem de Kooning]], [[Jackson Pollock]], [[Robert Rauschenberg]], and [[Jasper Johns]]. Seeing these avant-garde works triggered her "first great artistic crisis".<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|42}} She switched from oil painting to [[gouache]]s and gloss paint, and began to produce [[assemblage (art)|assemblages]] from household objects and castoffs.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|42}} By this time, she had decided to dedicate herself fully to creating art, free from the obligations of everyday family life.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|75–76}}

In 1960, she and Harry separated by mutual agreement, and her husband moved to another apartment with their two children.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|93}}<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Fok"/> At that time, her daughter Laura was nine, and her son Philip was five years old.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|75}} Mathews would occasionally buy artworks from his wife as a way of providing her modest support, and she would visit him and the children periodically.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|93}}

She soon moved in with Jean Tinguely, who by then had separated from his own wife, Eva Aeppli.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|95}}<ref name="LW1960-64">{{cite web|title=Life & Work (1960–1964) – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/biography/#1960-1964|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref> He was becoming well known for his [[kinetic art|kinetic sculptures]] made from cast-off mechanisms and junk. In many ways, the pair were opposites, and sometimes had violent disagreements, and frequent [[affair]]s with others.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|95–98}}<ref name="Cohen"/> They would live together intermittently and collaborate closely on artistic projects for over a decade before marrying in 1971.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Muchnic"/><ref name="LW1970-74"/> Two years later, they separated, but remained on good terms and continued to collaborate on various projects up through Tinguely's death in 1991.<ref name="Muchnic"/><ref name="Telegraph"/>

In 1960, Tinguely introduced her to [[Pontus Hultén]], then the director of the [[Moderna Museet]] (Modern Museum) in [[Stockholm, Sweden]]. Over the next few years, he would invite her to participate in important exhibitions and acquire her artworks for the museum.<ref name="Fok"/> He would later become the first director of the [[Centre Georges Pompidou]] in Paris (1974–1981), where he continued to be influential in promoting wider recognition of Saint Phalle's artwork.

== ''Tirs'' (1961–1963) ==
[[File:SAINTPHALLE 1995.104SC.0825 derivedA5.jpg|thumb|upright|''Autel d'or'' ("Golden Altar", 1962) resembles smaller versions of the ''Tirs'' series, but was not shot or paint-splattered]]
Saint Phalle created a series of works in the early 1960s, she called ''[[Tirs]]'' ("Shootings" or "Shots"). The series began as "target pictures", with painted [[bullseye (target)|bullseye]] targets prominently displayed within her painted collages, such as ''Saint Sébastien (Portrait of My Lover / Portrait of My Beloved / Martyr nécessaire)'' (1961),<ref name="Nechvatal">{{cite web|last1=Nechvatal|first1=Joseph|title=Falling for Niki de Saint Phalle|url=https://hyperallergic.com/178128/falling-for-niki-de-saint-phalle/|website=Hyperallergic|access-date=13 April 2017|date=29 January 2015}}</ref> or ''Assemblage (Figure with Dartboard Head)'' (1962).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sutton|first1=Benjamin|title=Discovering Niki de Saint Phalle's Eerie Early Work|url=https://hyperallergic.com/166402/discovering-niki-de-saint-phalles-eerie-early-work/|website=Hyperallergic|date=3 December 2014}}</ref> She would invite viewers to throw darts at the [[dartboard]]s embedded as faces in her figurative [[assemblage (art)|assemblages]], which were influenced by the targets painted by her friend [[Jasper Johns]].<ref name="Woods"/>

Soon, she would start by embedding knives, razor blades, scissors, eggbeaters, baby-doll arms, and other household items in [[plaster]] covering a large board, along with bags filled with colorful paints, cans of [[spray paint]], and sometimes tomato.<ref name="Levy"/> Also, she might suspend bags of paint or cans of spray paint in front of the white-painted assemblage. She would then repeatedly shoot the assemblage with a [[pistol]], rifle, or miniature [[cannon]], causing the liquids to "bleed" or to spray out.<ref name="LW1960-64"/><ref name="Levy" /><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|44}}

Her first staged public shooting event was in February 1961, attended by Jean Tinguely, [[Daniel Spoerri]], and [[Pierre Restany]], among others.<ref name="Woods">{{cite journal|last1=Woods|first1=Nicole L.|title=Pop Gun Art: Niki de Saint Phalle and the Operatic Multiple |issue=1|url=http://www.walkerart.org/collections/publications/art-expanded/pop-gun/ |journal=Living Collections Catalogue|volume=2|publisher=Walker Art Center|access-date=15 April 2017|language=en |date=2 March 2015}}</ref> Her early art performance/events took place in the "Impasse Ronsin", a trash-strewn back alley in the [[Montparnasse]] district of Paris. This [[cul-de-sac]] was also the site of the improvised studios of [[Constantin Brâncuși]], Jean Tinguely, [[Yves Klein]], [[Max Ernst]], [[Les Lalanne]], and other experimental artists in the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name="McAuley">{{cite web |last1=McAuley |first1=James |title=The Artists and Their Alley, in Postwar France |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/t-magazine/art/impasse-ronsin-artists-montparnasse-constantin-brancusi.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=30 December 2021 |date=22 September 2016}}</ref>

As founder of the ''[[Nouveau réalisme]]'' ("New Realist") movement, Restany asked Saint Phalle to join this group of French artists upon seeing her performance; she would become the only female member of this group.<ref name="Woods"/><ref name="Levy"/>

The extreme expressions of violence attracted media attention, catapulting Saint Phalle into the ranks of [[avant-garde]] artistic rebellion.<ref name="Neal"/>  The ''Tirs'' combined [[performance art|performance]], [[body art]], sculpture, and painting, in the artistic ferment of the 1960s.<ref name="GP-Brochure"/> Saint Phalle began to present variations on this process in art museums and galleries, and recruited other artists to join in staged public "[[happenings]]", where some of her colleagues would also pull the trigger. At American performances, she would meet many other emerging artists, including [[Robert Rauschenberg]], [[Ad Reinhardt]], [[Frank Stella]], and [[Ed Kienholz]].<ref name="Woods"/>  She also organized indoors events at art galleries, where she would invite visitors to shoot at her assemblages.<ref name="Fok"/>

Saint Phalle participated in Spoerri's "Edition MAT" (''Multiplication d’Art Transformable'') program of multiple artwork editions, supplying simpler versions of her ''Tirs'' works, with detailed instructions on how to shoot them with a [[.22 rifle]].<ref name="Woods"/> Saint Phalle carefully documented her artistic process in the ''Tirs'' with writing, still photos, and films.<ref name="Woods"/> She would attach common readymade artifacts to a board, attach bags of colorful paint, whitewash everything, and then dip the assemblage into milk-white plaster.<ref name="Woods"/> Once it had dried, the collection was ready for shooting by a purchaser.

In June 1961, Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely joined Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg in a concert-happening called ''Variations II'', orchestrated by avant-garde American composer [[John Cage]], and held at the American Embassy in Paris. While [[David Tudor]] played Cage compositions on the piano, the artists created their works of art on stage as the audience watched the proceedings.<ref name="Woods"/><ref name="Fok"/>

In August 1961, [[Marcel Duchamp]] introduced Saint Phalle and Tinguely to [[Salvador Dalí]], who invited them to create a life-sized exploding bull with fireworks (''Toro de Fuego''). This ''Homenage a Dalí'' ("Homage to Dalí") was wheeled out after the end of a traditional Spanish [[bullfight]], in [[Figueras]], Catalonia, Spain, and exploded in front of the audience.<ref name="Weidemann">{{cite book|last1=Weidemann|first1=Christiane|title=Niki de Saint Phalle|date=2014|publisher=Prestel|isbn=978-3-7913-4975-6}}</ref>{{rp|27}}<ref name="LW1960-64"/><ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Fok"/>

In 1962, she had her first one-woman show in New York City, at the gallery run by [[Alexander Iolas]].<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/><ref name="Artnews202106">{{cite web |title=Aim High: On Niki de Saint Phalle's First New York Solo Show, in 1962 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/aim-high-on-niki-de-saint-phalles-first-new-york-solo-show-in-1962-3569/ |website=ARTnews.com |access-date=9 June 2021 |date=11 February 2015}}</ref> It included ''Homage to Le Facteur Cheval'', a shooting gallery where visitors could fire on one of her ''Tirs'' installations.<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/><ref name="Artnews202106" /> This began her long working relationship with the gallerist, eventually comprising at least 17 exhibitions of her work.<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/>

An exclusive 1962 open-air shooting event in the [[Malibu, California|Malibu Hills]] above Los Angeles was attended by Hollywood celebrities, including [[Jane Fonda]] and [[John Houseman]].<ref name="Gavin"/> Attendees from the art world included John Cage, [[Ed Ruscha]], and [[Leo Castelli]], while Ed Kienholz helped to manage the firearms.<ref name="Young"/>

In most of these public performances, Saint Phalle was impeccably dressed in a fashionable white [[pantsuit]].<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|45}}

By 1963, she had taken the series to galleries in New York City and Los Angeles, inviting the public to participate in the shootings. In Los Angeles, she shot a large-scale ''[[King Kong]]'' assemblage she had constructed, paint-splattering the embedded sculpted faces of politicians such as [[John F Kennedy]], [[Fidel Castro]], and [[Charles De Gaulle]], with [[Santa Claus]] and [[Donald Duck]] as well.<ref name="Gavin"/> This work would later be acquired by the Moderna Museet in Stockholm,<ref name="Nechvatal"/> and would mark her transition to a new series of fantastic monsters, animals, and female figures.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|47}} Throughout her career, snakes, birds, and dragons would become recurring symbols in her artworks.<ref name="Jansen"/><ref name="Pesapane">{{cite book |last1=Pesapane |first1=Lucia |title=Le petit dictionnaire Niki de Saint Phalle en 49 symboles |date=2014 |publisher=Réunion des musées nationales |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-7118-6155-2 |language=fr}}</ref>

While in New York City, Saint Phalle and Tinguely stayed in the [[Hotel Chelsea]] in 1962, and again in 1964-1965.<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/>
In 1963, the couple purchased an old hotel, called ''Auberge au Cheval Blanc'' ("White Horse Inn"), in [[Soisy-sur-Ecole]], {{convert|44|km}} southeast of Paris.<ref name="Cohen"/><ref name="Fok"/> It had previously been a hotel, a café, a cinema, and even a [[brothel]],<ref name="Cohen"/> but the new owners converted it into artistic studios which they would share over the decades to come.

== ''Nanas'' (1964–1973) ==
[[File:Nikki de St. Phalle in Stedelijk Museum . Nummer 2 Nikki de St. Phalle, Bestanddeelnr 920-6242.jpg|thumb|upright|Saint Phalle in her first figurative survey museum exhibition ''Les Nanas au pouvoir'', at [[Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam]] (1967)]]
[[File:Niki de Saint Phalle Gwendolyn 2.jpg|thumb|upright|''Gwendolyn 2'' (1966/1990)|alt=]]
[[File:Ulm St-Phalle 046.jpg|thumb|upright|''Le poète et sa muse'' ("Poet and his Muse", 1978)|alt=]]
[[File:Blue Nana - panoramio.jpg|thumb|upright|''Blue Nana'' (2000)]]
[[File:Niki de Saint-Phalle étonne les enfants.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|''Nana Dansante (jaune)'' ("Dancing Nana (Yellow)")]]
[[File:St-Phalle Chur-114.jpg|thumb|A black ''Nana'']]
Saint Phalle next explored the various roles of women, in what would develop into her best-known and most prolific series of sculptures.<ref name="Neal" /> She started making life-size dolls of women, such as brides and mothers giving birth, monsters, and large heads. Initially, they were made of soft materials, such as wool, cloth, and [[papier-mâché]], but they soon evolved into plaster over a wire framework and plastic toys, some painted all white.<ref name="Fok" /><ref name="GP-Brochure">{{cite web|title=Niki de Sainte Phalle: 17 September 2014 – 2 February 2015|url=http://www.grandpalais.fr/pdf/depliant_niki_anglais.pdf|website=Grand Palais, Galeries nationales Champs-Élysées|access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref>

As the series developed into larger monumental works, Saint Phalle used composite [[fiberglass]]-reinforced polyester plastic (also known as FRP or GRP) decorated with multiple bright-colored [[Acrylic paint|acrylic]] or [[polyester]] paints.  She also used [[polyurethane foam]] in many of her early sculptures.<ref name="bechtler">{{cite web|title=Charlotte Loves Colorful Characters: Niki de Saint Phalle: The Creation of a New Mythology |url=http://www.bechtler.org/public/files/news/Artsee_Magazine_Charlotte_Loves_Colorful_Characters_May-Jun_2011.pdf|website=bechtler.org|publisher=Bechtler Museum of Modern Art|access-date=8 April 2017|quote=May/June 2011}}</ref> These innovative materials enabled the construction of colorful, large-scale sculptures with new ease and fluidity of form. Saint Phalle unknowingly used dangerous fabrication and painting processes that released airborne glass fibers and chemicals, including [[styrene]], [[epoxy]], and toxic [[solvent]]s.<ref name="McCann">{{cite book|last1=McCann|first1=Michael|last2=Babin|first2=Angela|title=Health hazards manual for artists|date=2008|publisher=Lyons Press|location=Guilford, Conn.|isbn=978-1-59921-318-7|edition=6th}}</ref><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|57}}

In 1963–64, she created a series of sculptures protesting stereotypical societal roles for women, as [[child bearing|child bearers]], devouring mothers, [[witch]]es, and prostitutes.<ref name="Fok"/> Some of her early artworks from this ''Bride'' period depicted ghostly, skeletal brides dressed in white,<ref name="Tate3">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Room 3: Brides and Monsters|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/niki-de-saint-phalle/niki-de-saint-phalle-room-guide/niki-de-2|website=Tate|access-date=25 April 2017|language=en}}</ref> which have been compared to [[Miss Havisham]], an ethereal character in [[Charles Dickens]]' novel ''[[Great Expectations]]''.<ref name="AFBio">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://www.artfortune.com/niki-de-saint-phalle/artistbiographies-39508/|website=Art Fortune|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

Over time, these figures became more joyful, whimsical, colorful, and larger in scale.<ref name="Kearney"/> Inspired by a collaborative drawing with American artist [[Larry Rivers]] of his wife, her pregnant friend [[Clarice Mary Price Rivers|Clarice Price Rivers]] (1936–2024),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Penelope |date=5 October 2024 |title=Clarice Rivers, Earthy Muse of Two Artists, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/27/arts/clarice-rivers-dead.html |access-date=6 October 2024 |work=The New York Times |page=A25 |language=en-US |volume=173 |issue=60299 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Saint Phalle began to portray archetypal female figures with a more optimistic view of the position of women in society.<ref name="Clarice">{{cite web|title=Clarice Rivers by Niki De Saint Phalle And Larry Rivers|url=http://curiator.com/art/niki-de-saint-phalle-and-larry-rivers/clarice-rivers|website=Curiator|access-date=22 April 2017|language=en|date=9 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Johnson">{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Ken|title=Niki de Saint Phalle, Sculptor, Is Dead at 71|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/23/arts/niki-de-saint-phalle-sculptor-is-dead-at-71.html|access-date=14 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=23 May 2002}}</ref><ref name="Levy"/> ''Gwendoline'' (1965) was the first major sculpture in what would become a lifetime series of these works.<ref name="Polignac">{{cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle - Biography |url=https://dianedepolignac.com/en/home-gb/artists-en/00-niki-de-saint-phalle-gb/#biography |website=Gallery Diane de Polignac |publisher=Diane de Polignac Art Gallery |access-date=3 June 2021 |location=Paris}}</ref>

The newer figures took on ecstatic dance poses<ref name="Polignac"/> and even acrobatic positions, such as [[handstand]]s and [[cartwheel (gymnastics)|cartwheels]]. Saint Phalle's light-hearted figures have been compared to the joyful dancers of [[Matisse]] and the sturdy female figures by [[Gaston Lachaise]], [[Aristide Maillol]], and [[Rodin]].<ref name="Lipton"/>

By 1965, she was calling her artistic expressions of the proverbial everywoman ''Nanas'', after a French slang word that is roughly equivalent to "broad",<ref name=Johnson /> or "chick".<ref name="Neal"/><ref name="Pincus">{{cite news|last1=Pincus|first1=Robert L.|title=Celebrated sculptor dead at 71|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-celebrated-sculptor-dead-71-2002may23-story.html|access-date=16 April 2017|work=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=23 May 2002}}</ref> The term also recalls the childish French taunt ''nananère''.<ref name="SFL"/>{{rp|37}}

The first of these freely posed forms, made of papier-mâché, yarn, and cloth, was exhibited at the [[Alexander Iolas]] Gallery in Paris in September 1965. During this show, she joined a type of [[tombola (raffle)|tombola]] raffle organized by the Artist's Club of New York, whereby artworks were randomly left in [[locker|coin-operated luggage lockers]] at [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Pennsylvania Station]], and keys were offered for $10 each.<ref name="Mobio">{{cite web|title=Monograph Bio – Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://www.mobot.org/press/Media_Room_Images/Niki/pdfs/Niki%20monograph%20bio.pdf|website=mobot.org|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|access-date=19 April 2017}}</ref>

For this show, Iolas also published Saint Phalle's first [[artist book]]<ref name="Polignac"/> that included her handwritten text in combination with her drawings of ''Bananas''.<ref name="Mobio"/> Encouraged by Iolas, she started a highly productive output of graphics work that accompanied her exhibitions, which included [[silk-screen]]ed prints, posters, books, and writings.<ref name="Fok"/> In the years to come, she would publish multiple hand-lettered books, profusely illustrated with colorful drawings and diagrams, on topics such as AIDS prevention and various periods in her life story.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1966, Saint Phalle collaborated with [[Jean Tinguely]] and Per Olof Ultvedt on a temporary indoor sculpture installation, ''Hon – en katedral'' (which means "She-a-Cathedral" in Swedish),<ref name="SFL"/>{{rp|30}} filling a large temporary gallery in the [[Moderna Museet]], in [[Stockholm]], Sweden. During construction, Saint Phalle recruited Swiss art student {{Interlanguage link|Rico Weber|de}}, who had been working as a [[Dishwasher (occupation)|dishwasher]] in the museum restaurant<ref name="50years"/> (in the following years, he would become a vital assistant and collaborator for both Saint Phalle and Tinguely).<ref name="50years"/> A team of 8 people worked strenuously for 40 days, first building a frame using metal [[rebar]], covering it with [[chicken wire]], sheathing it with fabric attached with smelly [[animal glue]], and then painting the inside of the enclosure black, and painting the outside in bright colors.<ref name="50years"/> The final structure was {{convert|82|ft}} long and {{convert|30|ft}} wide, weighing around {{convert|6|t|kg}}. In the [[tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]]-sized newsprint catalog published for the show, Saint Phalle included a diagram showing the artistic influences on her design, which included [[Simon Rodia]]'s [[Watts Towers]], [[Ferdinand Cheval]]'s ''[[Le Palais Idéal]]'', and the architecture of [[Antoni Gaudi]].<ref name="SFL"/>{{rp|32}}

The outer form was a giant, reclining sculpture of a pregnant woman (a ''Nana''), whose voluminous interior could be entered through a door-sized [[vagina]]l opening between her legs.<ref name="LW1965-69">{{cite web|title=Life & Work (1965–1969) – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/biography/#1965-1969|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref> Written on one of ''Hon'''s massive thighs was the motto ''[[Honi soit qui mal y pense]]'' ("May he be shamed who thinks badly of it").<ref name="Weidemann" />{{rp|59}}<ref name="SFL">{{cite book |last1=Saint-Phalle |first1=Niki de |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life |date=2021 |publisher=MoMA PS1 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-942884-67-5}}</ref>{{rp|37}} Inside the massive sculpture were a 12-seat cinema theater, a [[milk bar]] inside a breast, a [[fish pond]], and a brain built by Tinguely, with moving mechanical parts.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Telegraph"/> In addition, the sprawling ''Nana'' contained a [[pay telephone|coin telephone]], a [[love-seat]] sofa, a museum of fake paintings, a sandwich [[vending machine]], an art installation by Ultvedt, and a [[playground slide]] for children.<ref name="50years">{{cite web|title=Hon: a Cathedral: 50 years since HON|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/50-years-since-hon/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=16 April 2017|date=3 June 2016}}</ref>

After an initial shocked silence, the installation elicited extensive public commentary in magazines and newspapers throughout the world, raising awareness of the Moderna Museet.<ref name="50years"/> Over 100,000 visitors crowded in to experience the immersive environment, including many children.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|26,59}}<ref name="50years"/> At the end of 3 months, the entire temporary setup was demolished and removed, except for the head, which was preserved by the museum in its permanent collection.<ref name="50years"/> Some small fragments were attached to limited-edition [[exhibition catalog]]s and sold as mementos.<ref name="50years"/>

Around this time, Saint Phalle also designed [[stage set]]s and costumes for theatrical productions: ''Éloge de La Folie'' ("Praise of the Madness", 1966), a ballet by [[Roland Petit]]; an adaptation of the [[Aristophanes]] play ''[[Lysistrata]]'' (1966); and a German-language play she co-wrote with {{Interlanguage link|Rainer von Diez|fr}} titled ''ICH (All About Me)'' (1968).<ref name="Muller">{{cite web|last1=Müller|first1=Elena|title=Die Vagina-Dialoge|url=http://www.fr.de/kultur/kunst/niki-de-saint-phalle-die-vagina-dialoge-a-742721|website=Frankfurter Rundschau|access-date=16 April 2017|language=de|date=27 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="Fok"/> Large fixed or moveable ''Nana'' figures were prominent in several of these productions.<ref name="Weidemann" />{{rp|59}}

In 1967, Saint Phalle began working with [[polyester resin]],<ref name="LW1965-69"/> a material which could be shaped easily but would transform into a hard, smooth, weather-resistant surface. This new technology enabled her to construct large, fantastical figures for display outdoors in public spaces and parks.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|57}} The material is reasonably durable outdoors (similar materials are used for boats and car bodies), although decades of weather exposure can eventually cause deterioration, requiring specialized [[art conservation]] measures.<ref name="Getty">{{cite web |last1=Beerkens|first1=Lydia |last2=Breder|first2=Fredericke |title=Temporary Art? Outdoor Sculptures in Fiberglass-Reinforced Polyester (Article) |url=http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/newsletters/27_2/temporary_art.html |website=www.getty.edu |publisher=Getty Conservation Institute |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref>

In August 1967, the [[Stedelijk Museum]] in Amsterdam opened Saint Phalle's first retrospective exhibition, ''Les Nanas au pouvoir'' ("Nana Power"). For the show, Niki created her first "Nana Dream House" and "Nana Fountain", and also showed plans for her first "Nana Town".<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1967, she exhibited ''Le Paradis Fantastique'' ("The Fantastic Paradise"), a collaborative grouping of nine of her sculptures with six machines built by Tinguely, on the rooftop terrace of the 8-level French Pavilion at [[Expo 67]] in Montreal.<ref name="VEO">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint-Phalle et Jean Tinguely au Pavillon de la France|url=http://www.villes-ephemeres.org/2012/01/niki-de-saint-phalle-et-jean-tinguely.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409111207/http://www.villes-ephemeres.org/2012/01/niki-de-saint-phalle-et-jean-tinguely.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=9 April 2017|website=www.villes-ephemeres.org|access-date=8 April 2017|language=fr|date=7 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="Westland">{{cite web|title=Expo 67 – France Pavilion|url=http://www.westland.net/expo67/map-docs/france.htm|website=www.westland.net|access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref> The composition was originally conceived of as an attack by Tinguely's dark mechanical constructions upon Saint Phalle's brightly colored animals and female figures, a kind of "amorous warfare".<ref name="Hulten">Pontus Hultén, ''Jean Tinguely, une magie plus forte que la mort'' (in French), Paris: Éditions Le Chemin vert, 1987, 379 p. (OCLC 185890755)</ref><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|100}}

Although the French Pavilion itself was popular, most visitors did not see the rooftop terrace where the sculptures were installed.<ref name="WFC" /> In 1968, the sculptures were re-displayed at the [[Albright-Knox Gallery]] in [[Buffalo, New York]], and then for a year in New York City's [[Central Park]].<ref name="VEO"/><ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="WFC"/> In 1971, some of the artworks were purchased by the Moderna Museet, and permanently installed nearby in an outdoor [[sculpture garden]] on [[Skeppsholmen]], an island in central Stockholm.<ref name="WFC">{{cite web|title=The 'Paradis fantastique' on top of the Pavilion of France.|url=http://www.worldsfaircommunity.org/topic/12399-the-paradis-fantastique-on-top-of-the-pavilion-of-france/|website=The World's Fair Community|access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="PF-NCAF">{{cite web |title=Paradis Fantastique Archives |url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/tag/paradis-fantastique/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref>

In 1968, she first disclosed that she had developed respiratory problems from exposure to dust and fumes in making her artwork.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Mobio"/>

Starting in 1968, Saint Phalle sold ''Nana'' [[inflatable]] pool toys, which appeared in the April 15, 1968, issue of ''Vogue'' magazine.<ref name="NYC-NCAF"/><ref>{{cite journal |editor1-last=Vreeland |editor1-first=Diana |title=Les Nanas sur La Plage: Bouncy New Versions of Niki de Saint-Phalle's Famous Sculptures |journal=Vogue |date=1968-04-15 |volume=151 |issue=8 |pages=130-131 |publisher=The Condé Nast Publications, Inc. |location=New York, NY, USA |quote=...now in inflatable vinyl, silk-screened in wildly vivid Day-Glo colors, and in three different sizes – teddy bear to Titanic...from Elisabeth de Saint-Phalle...}}</ref> She ignored complaints from art critics, focusing on raising money for her future monumental projects.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Fok"/> In the coming years, she would face more criticism for over-commercializing and popularizing her artwork, but she raised significant funding that enabled her to finance several ambitious projects on her own.<ref name="Gavin"/> Her production of smaller, lower-cost objects also placed her art within reach of more supporters of her causes.<ref name="Sluiter"/> During her career, she produced clothing, jewelry, perfume, glass or porcelain figures, furniture, and craft items, many with a ''Nana'' theme.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|110}}

From 1969 to 1971, she worked on her first full-scale architecture project, three small sculptural houses commissioned by Rainer von Diez in southern France,<ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="SFL"/>{{rp|27}} which she called ''{{Interlanguage link|Le Rêve de l'oiseau|fr}}'' ("The Dream of the Bird").  The project was a collaboration with him and Jean Tinguely, and a forerunner of her later ''Tarot Garden'' project.

In 1969, she joined several other artists under the lead of Tinguely, starting work on ''Le Cyclop'' ("Cyclops", also known as ''La Tête'', "The Head", or ''le Monstre dans la forêt'', "the Monster in the forest"), in [[Milly-la-Forêt]], near Paris.<ref name="Fok"/> Collaborators included Daniel Spoerri, Bernhard Luginbuhl, and Eva Aeppli. Eventually, 15 different people worked on the project, which would not be considered finished until 1994.<ref name="Cyclop"/>

In 1969, in an interview on television in her studio, she shared her views about the place of women in politics and said, "I think women could administer this world much better. If Black power and women power would get together, they would take over everything. That's the solution. A new world of joy."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Video Clips|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/video-clips/|access-date=16 April 2021|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/jDxpIKqks6o Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101737/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDxpIKqks6o Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|title=Niki de Saint Phalle, l'atelier de l'artiste (archive sous-titrée)| date=25 November 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDxpIKqks6o|language=en|access-date=5 October 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In November 1970, as part of an artists' reunion celebrating the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Nouveaux Réalistes, Saint Phalle shot at an [[altar]] assemblage.<ref name="Mobio"/>

On 13 July 1971, Saint Phalle and Tinguely legally married,<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="LW1970-74">{{cite web|title=Life & Work (1970–1974) – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/biography/#1970-1974|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref> perhaps for tax savings, as Saint Phalle thus became a Swiss citizen.<ref name="Levy"/> Their marriage did give the two artists mutual control over each other's [[Estate (law)|artistic estate]] if one of them should die.<ref name="Levy"/> That same year, she designed her first pieces of jewelry.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1972, she installed ''{{Interlanguage link|Golem (Niki de Saint Phalle)|fr|4=de}}'', commissioned by the then mayor [[Teddy Kollek]], at a children's playground in the [[Kiryat Hayovel]] neighborhood of [[Jerusalem]]. It is a giant monster with three red tongues protruding from its mouth, which serve as [[playground slide]]s.<ref name="Steinberg"/><ref name="Knokke-NCAF"/> This project was the first time she used the [[shotcrete]] method of spraying concrete over a metal framework to produce large structures; this method would be used in her further major projects.<ref name="Knokke-NCAF"/>

Starting in 1972, she engaged Robert Haligon ("''Fabricant de Plastiques d’Art''") to help fabricate her large-scale sculptures, as well as various editions of artworks. This collaboration would continue for 25 years, including all four of his children, notably Gérard, who would take the lead in later years.<ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="Fok"/> The collaboration would produce approximately 3,000 sculptures, ranging from monumental outdoors pieces to small multiple editions.<ref name="Haligon-NCAF">{{cite web |title=When polyester resin forms more than a sculpture: Niki de Saint Phalle and the Haligon workshop |url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/when-polyester-resin-forms-more-than-a-sculpture-niki-de-saint-phalle-and-the-haligon-workshop/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=15 May 2020 |date=2 October 2019}}</ref> Saint Phalle personally trained daughter Marie Haligon to paint her multiple edition sculptures, following a master artist's prototype.<ref name="Haligon-NCAF"/> Initially, the artist preferred a matte paint finish, shunning shiny surfaces. However, she was forced to adopt glossy surface finishes to attain improved durability of the paints on her outdoors sculptures. Over time, she embraced this glossy visual effect, and began using mirrors and polished stones to surface her artworks.<ref name="Haligon-NCAF"/>

In 1972, Saint Phalle shot footage for her surreal horror film ''Daddy'', about a deeply troubled father-daughter [[love-hate relationship]].<ref name="TateDaddy">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Daddy|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/niki-de-saint-phalle/niki-de-saint-phalle-room-guide/niki-de-6|website=Tate|access-date=25 April 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Ellis-Petersen">{{cite news |last1=Ellis-Petersen |first1=Hannah |title=Artist provocateur: Niki de Saint Phalle retrospective at Guggenheim Bilbao |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/feb/27/artist-provocateur-niki-de-saint-phalle-retrospective-guggenheim-bilbao |access-date=17 April 2017 |work=The Guardian |date=27 February 2015}}</ref> The filming was done in a rented castle near [[Grasse]] in southeastern France in association with filmmaker [[Peter Whitehead (filmmaker)|Peter Whitehead]]. In November, the film was shown in London. The following January, she produced a new version of the film, with additional scenes in Soisy and New York, and an expanded cast. The revised version premiered at [[Lincoln Center]] for the 11th [[New York Film Festival]] in April. She was also commissioned to design the cover of the program for the festival.<ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="Fok"/>

In 1973, Saint Phalle worked with Tinguely and Rico Weber on a commission from Roger and Fabienne Nellens to build a playhouse in the garden of their home in seaside [[Knokke-le-Zoute]], Belgium. The ''Le Dragon'' they built was a substantial structure, {{convert|21|ft}} high and {{convert|110|ft}} long, made using techniques derived from the earlier ''Le Rêve de l'oiseau'' and ''Golem'' projects. The fantastical building would eventually include a kitchen, bathroom, toilet, heating system, and bedroom, at an estimated cost of $30,000 to $40,000. The exterior was decorated with bright paintings, including ones done by Roger Nellens and the [[Formula 1]] race-car driver [[Jacky Ickx]]. Similar to the ''Golem'' project the previous year, a long tongue formed an exterior slide from the upper level.<ref name="Knokke-NCAF">{{cite web |title=A Monster in Belgium - The Dragon of Knokke |url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/a-monster-in-belgium-the-dragon-of-knokke/ |website=Niki de Saint Phalle |publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=8 March 2021 |date=1 August 2017}}</ref>

In 1987, [[graffiti art]]ist [[Keith Haring]] would live in ''Le Dragon'' while working on a mural commissioned by Roger Nellens at nearby [[Knokke Casino]], and would return for at least three summers.<ref name="Haring-Sotheby">{{cite web |title=Dear Keith: Works from the Personal Collection of Keith Haring |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/dear-keith-works-from-the-personal-collection-of-keith-haring/roger-nellens-couples |website=Sotheby's |access-date=8 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="Gruen">{{cite book |last1=Gruen |first1=John |title=Keith Haring : the authorized biography |date=1992 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-671-78150-2 |edition=1st Fireside}}</ref>{{rp|176–177}} With Saint Phalle's enthusiastic consent, he would paint a long [[fresco]] along an interior stairway wall.<ref name="Haring-Phillips">{{cite web |title=Keith Haring and the Belgian Surf Club |url=https://www.phillips.com/article/33355425/keith-haring-and-the-belgian-surf-club |website=Phillips |publisher=Phillips Auctioneers, LLC |access-date=8 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Knokke-NCAF"/> Eventually, the building would be designated a Monument Historique of Belgium, though it would remain private property.<ref name="Knokke-NCAF"/>

Saint Phalle continued to create ''Nanas'' for the rest of her life, but would soon focus her attention on a comprehensive project in Italy.

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Le Paradis Fantastique (1967–1971)">
File:Niki de Saint Phalle Paradiset.JPG
File:Niki de Saint Phalle at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.jpg
File:Niki de Saint Phalle St 3.jpg
File:Stockholm Art II.jpg
File:Sweden. Stockholm. Skeppsholmen 020.JPG
File:TheFantasticParadise 01.jpg
</gallery>

== ''Tarot Garden'' (1974–1998) ==
{{Main|Tarot Garden}}
{{rquote|right|
The ''Tarot Garden'' is not just my garden. It is also the garden of all those who helped me make it. I am the Architect of the garden. I imposed my vision because I could not do otherwise.

The garden was made with difficulties, wild enthusiasm, obsession, and most of all faith. Nothing could have stopped me.

As in all fairy tales, before finding the treasure, I met on my path dragons, sorcerers, magicians, and the Angel of Temperance.

—Niki de Saint Phalle<ref name="TTG-Brochure">{{cite web|last1=Saint Phalle|first1=Niki de|title=Il Giardino dei Tarocchi|url=http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/TG-Brochure-Blue.pdf|website=Il Giardino dei Tarocchi|publisher=Fondazione Il Giardino dei Tarocchi|access-date=2017-04-14}}</ref>}}

In 1955, Saint Phalle had visited [[Antoni Gaudí]]'s [[Parc Güell]] in Barcelona, Spain, which inspired her to use diverse materials and [[found object]]s as essential elements in her art.<ref name="TTG">{{Cite news |url=http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/en/about/chronology |title=Chronology – The Tarot Garden|work=The Tarot Garden (il Giardino Dei Tarocchi) Official Website |access-date=2017-03-29 |language=en-US}}</ref> Another influence was the [[Parco dei Mostri]] in [[Bomarzo]], in the Lazio region of Italy.<ref name="Fecchio">{{cite web|last1=Fecchio|first1=Barbara|title=Three Sculpture Gardens in Tuscany, Italy |url=http://www.sculpturenature.com/en/three-sculpture-gardens-in-tuscany-italy/ |website=Sculpture Nature |access-date=2017-04-17 |date=12 August 2016}}</ref>  In the late 1950s, she and Jean Tinguely had visited ''[[Le Palais Idéal]]'' built by [[Ferdinand Cheval]] (known as ''Le Facteur Cheval'') in [[Hauterives]], France, as well as [[Simon Rodia]]'s ''[[Watts Towers]]'' in Los Angeles in the early 1960s.<ref name="Fok"/> Both these latter locations were examples of fantastical [[outsider art]] and architecture built by ordinary working men of modest means but an expansive vision. Saint Phalle decided that she wanted to make something similar: a magnificent [[sculpture garden]], but created by a woman.

The founding sponsors for her ambitious project were members of the Italian [[Agnelli family]]. In 1974, Saint Phalle became ill with a [[pulmonary abscess]] from her work with polyester and was hospitalized in Arizona.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|76}} She then recuperated in [[St. Moritz, Switzerland]].<ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="Fok"/> She reconnected with [[Marella Agnelli]], a friend from the 1950s in New York,<ref name="LW1970-74"/> and told Agnelli about her ideas for a fantasy garden.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|76}} In 1978, Agnelli's brothers Carlo and Nicola Caracciolo offered a parcel of their land in [[Tuscany]] for the garden's site.<ref name="TTG"/>

In 1974, Saint Phalle created a trio of monumental ''Nana''s installed next to the [[River Leine]] in [[Hanover]], Germany. City leaders were initially inundated with over 20,000 letters of complaint,<ref name="Hanover-LP">{{cite web |title=Die Nanas {{!}} Hanover, Germany Attractions |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/germany/lower-saxony/hanover/attractions/die-nanas/a/poi-sig/1205124/359378 |website=Lonely Planet |access-date=2021-06-03 |language=en}}</ref> but eventually the figures were affectionately nicknamed "[[Sophia of Hanover|Sophie]]",<!-- Kurfürstin Sophie --> "[[Charlotte Kestner|Charlotte]]", and "[[Caroline Herschel|Caroline]]" in honor of three of the city's historical women.<ref name="NCAF-Hannover"/><ref name="Polignac"/> The dispute between supporters and opponents of the statues was resolved by a [[tug-of-war]] contest.<ref name="NCAF-Hannover">{{cite web |title=Triple Trouble in Hannover |url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/2023/03/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=2024-06-26 |date=24 Mar 2023}}</ref>

In 1975, Saint Phalle wrote the screenplay for ''Un rêve plus long que la nuit'' ("A Dream Longer Than the Night", later also called ''Camélia et le Dragon''), and she recruited many of her artist friends to help make it into a film, a phantasmagorical tale of dragons, monsters, and adolescence. A young girl is held captive by a dragon, manages to escape, and must explore ''Sept Portes du Mystère'' ("Seven Doors of Mystery") to find love. Saint Phalle's daughter Laura was the lead character in the film, appearing with Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, and other artist friends; [[Peter Whitehead (filmmaker)|Peter Whitehead]] composed the music.<ref name="ReveLong">{{cite web |url=http://www.unifrance.org/film/3110/un-reve-plus-long-que-la-nuit |title=Un rêve plus long que la nuit (1976) |website=www.unifrance.org |language=fr |access-date=2017-04-15}}</ref> For the filming, she designed several pieces of furniture, which were later displayed on the facade of the [[Palais des Beaux-Arts]] in Brussels.<ref name="Fok"/> From 1968 to 1988, she also worked on ''Last Night I Had a Dream'', a sculptural relief painting that included many elements from her earlier life and dreams.<ref name="Tate4">{{cite web |url=http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/niki-de-saint-phalle/niki-de-saint-phalle-room-guide/niki-de-3 |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Room 4: Last Night I Had a Dream |website=Tate |language=en |access-date=2017-04-25}}</ref>

In 1976, she retreated to the [[Swiss Alps]] to refine her plans for the sculpture park.<ref name="Mobio"/> In 1977 Ricardo Menon, an Argentinian, became her assistant; he would  work closely with her until 1986.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/>

In 1977, she worked with the English writer [[Constantin Mulgrave]] to design sets for ''The Traveling Companion'', based on a [[Hans Christian Andersen]] fairy tale, but the project was never completed.<ref name="Mobio"/> She and Mulgrave lived together for around four years, but Tinguely remained a continually reappearing presence in her life.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|101–103}}

In 1977, she also visited Mexico and [[New Mexico]], in search of more extensive artistic inspirations.<ref name="Mobio"/>

In 1978, Saint Phalle started to lay out her sculpture garden in an abandoned [[quarry]] in [[Garavicchio]], Tuscany, about {{convert|100|km}} north-west of Rome near the west coast of the Italian peninsula. The following year, sites were cleared, and foundations were established.<ref name="TTG"/>

In 1979, she produced the first of what would become a new series of sculptures, the ''Skinnies''. These were flat, planar, see-through outlines of heads and figures, highlighted by patches of color. In some ways, they resembled her colorful sketches and drawings but scaled up to monumental size. The series also symbolized Saint Phalle's struggles against emphysema and illness.<ref name="Together-NCAF">{{cite web |title=The Spirit of Coming Together |url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/the-spirit-of-coming-together/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=2020-05-25 |date=22 May 2020}}</ref> She continued to produce her ''Nanas'' in addition to her new style of sculpture,<ref name="Fok" /> and both styles of figures would appear in her ''Tarot Garden'' project.

In 1980, Saint Phalle and her team began to build the first architectural sculpture in the garden. As the project progressed, Saint Phalle started taking lessons in the Italian language, to better communicate with local workers.<ref name="Levy"/> The second crew member she hired was Ugo Celletti, a 50-year-old part-time [[postman|postal delivery]] man, who discovered a love for [[mosaic]] work on the project.<ref name="Levy" /><ref name="TarotNew-NCAF">{{cite web |title=It's been 20 Years - What's new with the Tarot Garden? |url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/20-years-whats-new-tarot-garden/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=2020-05-15 |date=28 September 2018}}</ref> He would work on the project for 36 years and recruit his nephews to join in; some family members are still involved in maintaining the site.<ref name="Ugo-NCAF">{{cite web|title=In Memory of Ugo Celetti|url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/2016/05/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=2017-04-18|date=31 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="TarotNew-NCAF"/>

She invited artist friends from Argentina, Scotland, Holland, and France to help work on the sculptures.<ref name="Levy"/> Over time, Saint Phalle worked with dozens of people, including architects, ceramicists, ironworkers, bricklayers, painters, and mosaic artists.<ref name="TTG-Crew">{{cite web|last1=Saint Phalle|first1=Niki de|title=Materials and Crew – The Tarot Garden|url=http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/en/about/materials-crew/|website=The Tarot Garden (il Giardino Dei Tarocchi) Official Website|publisher=The Tarot Garden|access-date=2017-04-14}}</ref> The materials used in the ''Tarot Garden'' project would include steel, iron, cement, polyester, ceramic, mosaic glass, mirrors, and [[Tumble finishing|polished stones]] (which she called "[[M&M's]]").<ref name="Jansen"/>

The structure of the more massive sculptures was very similar to the temporary ''Hon'' installation at the Moderna Museet in 1966, but this time the artworks were outdoors and needed to withstand the long-term weathering effects of sun and rain. The basic shape of the sculptures was established with frameworks made of welded steel [[rebar]]. A second layer of lighter-gauge steel reinforcement bars was added, followed by two layers of [[expanded metal]]. A specialist firm was then brought in to spray [[shotcrete]] onto the structure. A layer of tar for waterproofing and a final layer of white cement produced a sturdy, hollow structure ready for decoration.<ref name="TTG"/>

In 1980, she also began selling a series of polyester snake chairs, vases, and lamps.<ref name="Fok"/> That year, she recorded her first attack of [[rheumatoid arthritis]], a painful disease affecting the joints of the skeleton.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1980–1981, she designed a colorful paint scheme for a [[Piper Aerostar]] 602 P twin-engine airplane, which participated in the first trans-Atlantic race sponsored by the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation of Amsterdam.<ref name="Fok"/> As an act of playful rebellion against the cigarette manufacturer sponsor, she added a "[[No smoking sign|No Smoking]]" sign visible on the belly of the plane (she was allergic to [[tobacco smoke]]).<ref name="Flying-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Flying Work of Art|url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/2016/07/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=2017-04-18|date=July 2016}}</ref>

In 1981, Saint Phalle rented a small house near the ''Tarot Garden'' and hired young people from Garavicchio to help with the construction of the garden. Jean Tinguely led a Swiss team, comprising Seppi Imhoff and Rico Weber, and started welding the frames of the sculptures.<ref name="Mobio"/> The following year, Dutch artist Doc Winsen (also called "Dok van Winsen") took up the welding operations.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1982, Saint Phalle developed and marketed an [[:wikt:eponym|eponymous]] perfume, using the proceeds to help finance her project.<ref name="Johnson"/><ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Delson"/> The perfume bottle top featured a small sculpture of two intertwined snakes, one golden and the other brightly multicolored.<ref name="Herman">{{cite web|last1=Herman|first1=Barbara|title=Niki de Saint Phalle (1983)|url=http://yesterdaysperfume.typepad.com/yesterdays_perfume/2011/03/niki-de-saint-phalle-1983.html|website=Yesterday's Perfume|access-date=2017-04-23|date=March 11, 2011}}</ref> This was one of the first of what came to be called [[List of celebrity-branded perfumes|celebrity perfume]]s, using fame and name recognition to sell scented products.<ref name="Swissinfo">{{cite web |title=40 years of Niki's nanas |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/40-years-of-niki-s-nanas/4356222 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |date=27 October 2005 |publisher=Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR |access-date=3 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref> She may have raised as much as a third of the funds she needed for the garden in this way.<ref name="Levy"/> She actively solicited funding from friends and acquaintances, as well as by selling her artworks.<ref name="Levy"/>

[[File:Place Igor-Stravinsky from the Centre Georges Pompidou, September 2013.jpg|thumb|upright|Distant aerial view of ''Stravinsky Fountain'' and [[Centre Georges Pompidou]] in 2013]]
In August 1982, Saint Phalle was honored at the Street Festival of the Arts in New York City.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 30, 1982|title=Art Block Party Set Up On 32d Street Tonight|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/30/arts/art-block-party-set-up-on-32d-street-tonight.html|access-date=2022-01-23|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Later that year, Saint Phalle collaborated with Tinguely to produce the ''[[Stravinsky Fountain]]'', a 15-piece sculptural fountain with moving elements, located in Igor Stravinsky Square next to the [[Centre Georges Pompidou]] in Paris. Because of its prominent location in Paris, it would become one of the best-known collaborations between the two artists.

From 1983 until 1988, when on site,<ref name="TTG"/> Saint Phalle lived in a small apartment built into ''[[The Empress (Tarot card)|The Empress]]'', a house-sized [[sphinx]]-like sculpture in the garden. On the second level, her bedroom was inside one breast, and her kitchen was inside the other one.<ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Delson"/> Each of these two rooms had a single recessed circular window, appearing as an [[inverted nipple]] when viewed from the outside.<ref name="Hickman">{{cite web |last1=Hickman |first1=Matt |title=MoMA PS1 announces first New York retrospective of Niki de Saint Phalle |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2021/02/moma-ps1-announces-first-new-york-retrospective-of-niki-de-saint-phalle/ |website=The Architect’s Newspaper |access-date=2021-03-08 |date=26 February 2021}}</ref> In 2000, she would recall: "At last, my lifelong wish to live inside a sculpture was going to be granted: a space entirely made out of undulating curves ... I wanted to invent a new mother, a mother goddess, and be reborn within its form ... I would sleep in one breast. In the other, I would put my kitchen".<ref name="AFBio"/>

The ground floor contained a large mirrored space with a mirrored dining table where she would serve lunch to workers and artists, beneath a [[chandelier]] Tinguely had made with a cow skull.<ref name="Levy"/> She used this motherly role to help reinforce her authority in directing the team of men she needed to help build her project.<ref name="Levy"/> Eventually, she would grow tired of the cramped space "in the womb of her mother", and after 1988 would move into a [[loft|New-York-loft-style studio]] which she had built for herself underground at the site.<ref name="TTG"/> Her assistant, Ricardo Menon, would live in the ''Tower of Babel'' structure while on site, working closely with Saint Phalle and caring for her during crippling arthritis flareups.<ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/>

Around 1983, Saint Phalle decided to cover her ''Tarot Garden'' sculptures primarily in durable [[ceramic]] colored tiles, adding shards of mirrors and glass, and polished stones.<ref name="Fok"/> Menon helped her recruit Venera Finocchiaro, a ceramics teacher from Rome; she taught local women new techniques for molding ceramic pieces to curved surfaces and installed on-site ovens to finish the pieces.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="TTG"/><ref name="Levy"/> Starting in 1985, Jean Tinguely added motorized and stationary steel sculptures and fountains to the project.<ref name="TTG"/> Robert Haligon and his sons did much of the work, which involved polyester resins.<ref name="TTG"/><ref name="Haligon-NCAF"/> Saint Phalle asked Pierre Marie Lejeune to create a cement path, which he inscribed with [[hieroglyph]]s, other signs and symbols, and text.<ref name="TTG"/> During this period, Saint Phalle dedicated almost all of her time to living and working in the garden.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1986, Menon left to attend a drama school in Paris,<ref name="Fok"/> but kept secret from Saint Phalle that he had contracted AIDS.<ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/> While there, he recruited fellow Argentinian Marcelo Zitelli to work for Saint Phalle as a gardener, but he in turn became her assistant for other work as well, helping her fabricate sculptures for at least the next decade.<ref name="Fok"/>

The same year, Saint Phalle took some time to collaborate with {{Interlanguage link|Silvio Barandun|de}} (a German medical professor of [[immunology]]) in writing and illustrating her book ''AIDS: You Can’t Catch It Holding Hands'', intended for students in middle school or high school. It was first published in San Francisco in English, then later translated into five different languages; 70,000 copies were sold or given to medical institutions and schools.<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="AIDS-NCAF">{{cite web|title=AIDS, you can't catch it holding hands|url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/aids-you-cant-catch-it-holding-hands/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=2017-04-18|date=30 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="Hickman"/> The book was considered influential in early efforts supporting public health education about the disease.<ref name="Greenberger2020">{{cite web |last1=Greenberger |first1=Alex |title=How Niki de Saint Phalle's Forward-Thinking Feminism Changed the Art World |url=https://www.artnews.com/feature/niki-de-saint-phalle-who-was-she-1202684173/ |website=ARTnews.com |access-date=2021-06-09 |date=2020-04-16}}</ref>

From 1987 to 1993, Saint Phalle spent more of her time in Paris, where she developed many of the smaller sculptures for the garden.<ref name="TTG"/> From time to time, she would organize gallery shows of her art, including [[maquette]]s of her more significant works, to raise funds for the garden project.<ref name="TTG"/> Saint Phalle also worked on establishing a permanent legal structure for the preservation and maintenance of the garden.<ref name="TTG"/>

In 1988, Saint Phalle participated in a worldwide touring exhibition of [[kite]]s. Her contribution was a gigantic kite inspired by her ''oiseau amoreux'' ("amorous bird") series of sculptures.<ref name="Polignac"/>

In 1992–1993, corrective maintenance on the ''Tarot Garden'' sculptures was performed, using new glues and [[silicone]]s to attach mirrors and glass elements more securely, to withstand weathering and the touch of many visitors' hands.<ref name="TTG"/> Starting in 2021, a similar restoration process of re-attaching mirrors was ongoing with ''Le Cyclop'', located in [[Milly-la-Forêt]], near Paris.<ref name="CyclopRestore">{{cite web|title=Restauration/Restoration – Le Cyclop|url=https://www.lecyclop.com/#loeuvre_restauration-2021|website=www.lecyclop.com|access-date=2023-06-14|language=fr, en}}</ref>

The ''Tarot Garden'' was under development for almost 30 years, and $5 million (roughly $11 million in 2016 dollars<ref name="Levy"/>) was spent to construct it.<ref name="Frank">{{cite web|last1=Frank|first1=Priscilla|title=This Hallucinatory 1970s Sculpture Garden Brings The Tarot Deck To Life|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/niki-de-st-phalle-tarot-garden_us_57acedbee4b007c36e4de29e|website=Huffington Post|access-date=2017-03-29|date=12 August 2016}}</ref> The Foundation of the Tarot Garden was constituted in 1997 (and would attain official juridical status in 2002), and the garden officially opened to the public on 15 May 1998.<ref name="TTG"/>  The completed garden (called ''il Giardino dei Tarocchi'' in Italian, and ''le Jardin des Tarots'' in French) now contains sculptures and architectural sculptures representing the 22 cards of Major Arcana found in the [[Tarot]] deck of cards, plus other smaller artworks.<ref name="TTG-Map">{{cite web|title=Interactive Map|url=http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/en/visit/interactive-map/|website=The Tarot Garden (il Giardino Dei Tarocchi) Official Website|access-date=2017-04-25}}</ref> The site covers around {{convert|2|ha|}} on the southern slope of the hill of Garavicchio, in Capalbio.<ref name="PMC">{{cite web|title=The Tarot Garden: masterpiece by Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/tarot-garden-masterpiece-niki-de-saint-phalle|website=Port Mobility Civitavecchia|access-date=2017-04-25|language=it|date=16 September 2015}}</ref> The tallest sculptures are about {{convert|15|m}} high.<ref name="PMC"/>

Saint Phalle's friend, architect [[Mario Botta]], built a fortress-like protective wall and a [[porthole]]-shaped gateway at the entrance to the garden, marking a distinctive separation from the outside world.<ref name="TTG"/> The entry structure also houses a ticket office, a gift shop, and [[Public toilet|restrooms]] for visitors.<ref name="TTG-Map"/> Within the park, there are fountains, courtyards, a multilevel tower, and many larger-than-life mythical creatures.<ref name="TTG"/> Saint Phalle designed a brochure containing a map and other information for visitors to the garden, which is open seasonally.<ref name="TTG-Brochure"/>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="125" caption="Tarot Garden">
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, ingresso 01.JPG|Sign at entrance
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, ingresso 02.JPG|View into entrance
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, imperatrice, interno, mosaico di specchi 01.JPG|Mirrored mosaic ceiling inside ''[[The Empress (Tarot card)|The Empress]]''
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, imperatrice, interno, cucina.JPG|Kitchen used by Saint Phalle inside ''The Empress''
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, la giustizia, chiavistello di Jean Tinguely.jpg|Detail of ''[[Justice (Tarot card)|Justice]]''
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, la torre, interno, mosaico di specchi 01.JPG|Mosaic ceiling inside ''[[The Tower (Tarot card)|The Tower]]''
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, la torre, pattern pavimento terrazza.JPG|Floor paving at ''The Tower''
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, vialetto 01.JPG|Walkway inscribed with arcane symbols
File:Niki de saint-phalle, giardino dei tarocchi, vialetto 02.JPG|Pathway signed by Saint Phalle
File:Niki de Saint Phalle Imperatrice.JPG|''[[The Empress (Tarot card)|The Empress]]'' (internal view)
</gallery>

== Later years (1990–2002) ==
In her final years, Saint Phalle was afflicted with [[emphysema]],<ref name="Muchnic">{{cite news|last1=Muchnic|first1=Suzanne|title=Niki de Saint Phalle, 71; Artist Known for Large, Colorful Sculptures|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-23-me-niki23-story.html|access-date=7 April 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=23 May 2002}}</ref> [[asthma]],<ref name="Muchnic"/> and severe [[arthritis]],<ref name="Robb">{{cite web|last1=Robb|first1=Andy|title=Niki de Saint Phalle – A Personal Journey in the Public Eye|url=https://www.xamou-art.com/niki-de-saint-phalle/|website=xamou art|access-date=7 April 2017|date=4 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="Levy"/> which she<ref name="Together-NCAF"/> and many commentators attributed to exposure to airborne glass fibers, fumes, and petrochemicals from materials used in her artworks.<ref name="Muchnic" /><ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="Robb"/><ref name="Levy"/><ref name="ArtDir">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint Phalle Biography – Infos – Art Market|url=http://www.niki-de-saint-phalle.com|website=www.niki-de-saint-phalle.com|access-date=7 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Gavin">{{cite web|last1=Gavin|first1=Francesca|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: lock 'n' load|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/20703/1/niki-de-saint-phalle-lock-n-load|website=Dazed|access-date=19 April 2017|language=en|date=19 July 2014}}</ref> Despite these handicaps, she launched into exploring new venues, new technologies, and new art media.

In 1989, Ricardo Menon, Saint Phalle's former assistant, died of AIDS;<ref name="Fok"/> his loss plunged Saint Phalle into depression.<ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/> She created a large mosaic sculpture of a cat, ''Chat de Ricardo'', to serve as his cemetery [[headstone]] in [[Montparnasse Cemetery]], Paris, France.<ref name="Meier">{{cite web|last1=Meier|first1=Allison|title=The Tombs of Artists: A Last Statement From the Grave|url=https://hyperallergic.com/76916/the-tombs-of-artists-a-last-statement-from-the-grave/|website=Hyperallergic|access-date=13 April 2017|date=1 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF">{{cite web |title=Niki's Sculptures in "Le Cimetière de Montparnasse" |url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/nikis-sculptures-le-cimetiere-de-montparnasse/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=15 May 2020 |date=12 July 2018}}</ref> She placed a second copy of the memorial sculpture in her ''Tarot Garden'' in Tuscany, where he had worked closely with her for nearly a decade.<ref name="TTG-Map"/><ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/>

In 1990, Saint Phalle completed ''Skull (Meditation Room)'', a {{convert|5|m|adj=on}} tall room-sized [[skull]]-shaped enclosure surfaced in colorful mosaics and lined inside with mosaic mirrors, to memorialize the [[AIDS crisis]].<ref name="Nechvatal"/><ref name="Fok"/> She also used [[bronze]] for the first time, in a series of [[Egyptian gods]] and goddesses.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1991, she produced a maquette for ''Le Temple Idéal'' ("The Ideal Temple"), a place of worship welcoming all religions, in response to the [[religious intolerance]] she saw while working in Jerusalem.<ref name="Mobio"/> The city of [[Nîmes]] (France) commissioned her to build the architectural sculpture, but the project never was constructed, due to politics.<ref name="Mobio"/> Over the years, she had become interested in myths and religious traditions beyond her childhood Roman Catholic upbringing, including Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and ancient Egyptian beliefs.

In August 1991, Jean Tinguely died suddenly of a heart attack in [[Bern, Switzerland]]. During his previous two years of declining health, he had stopped taking medication and began preparing for death.<ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/> The couple had separated years before, but remained very close; the loss of her longtime collaborator and intimate friend affected Saint Phalle deeply. She was writing a memoir letter about their first meeting when news of his death reached her.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|103}}

In his memory, Saint Phalle created her first [[kinetic art|kinetic sculptures]], which she called ''Méta-Tinguelys''.<ref name="LW1990-94">{{cite web|title=Life & Work (1990–1994) – Niki Charitable Art Foundation|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/biography/#1990-1994|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Polignac"/> With initial assistance from her artist friend [[Larry Rivers]], she created a series of kinetic reliefs or moving paintings, called ''Tableaux Éclatés'' ("Shattered Paintings"), in homage to her late husband and colleague.<ref name="Cohen" /><ref name="Mobio" /><ref name="FIAC-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Nanas and FIAC|url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/2014/10/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017|date=23 October 2014}}</ref> When a visitor approached, a [[photocell]] would trigger motors which caused elements of the paintings to separate.<ref name="Cohen"/>

Saint Phalle lost many friends and associates to AIDS, including Jean-Jacques Goetzman, who died in 1992. She memorialized him with ''Oiseau pour Jean-Jacques'' ("Bird for Jean-Jacques"), a large reflective abstract bird sculpture at Montparnasse Cemetery.<ref name="Montparnasse-NCAF"/>

As her health deteriorated, she worked on creating the [[Museum Tinguely]] in [[Basel, Switzerland]], as well as continuing work on her ''Tarot Garden''. During this time, she became a good friend of the museum's architect [[Mario Botta]], and she also engaged him to design the wall and entryway to her ''Tarot Garden''.<ref name="TTG"/>

In 1994, Saint Phalle published her hand-illustrated and hand-colored memoirs ''Mon Secret'' ("My Secret") in French and revealed her childhood history of sexual abuse.<ref name="Lipton"/><ref name="Levy"/><ref name="Secret">{{cite book|last1=Saint-Phalle|first1=Niki de|title=Mon secret|date=1994|publisher=La Différence|location=Paris|isbn=978-2729109783|language=fr|quote=J'ai écrit ce livre d'abord pour moi-même, pour tenter de me délivrer enfin de ce viol qui a joué un rôle si déterminant dans ma vie. Je suis une rescapée de la mort, j'avais besoin de laisser la petite fille en moi parler enfin… J'ai longtemps pensé que j'étais une exception, ce qui m'isolait encore plus; aujourd'hui j'ai pu parler à d'autres vistimes d'un viol : les effets calamiteux sont tous les mêmes : désespoir, honte, humiliation, angoisse, suicide, maladie, folie, etc. Le scandale a enfin éclaté; tous les jours des révélations jaillissent sur ce secret si jalousement gardé pendant des siècles : le viol d'une multitude d'enfants, filles ou garçons, par un père, un grand-père, un voisin, un professeur, un prêtre, etc. Après le Secret j'ai l'intention d'écrire un autre livre adressé aux enfants, afin de leur apprendre à se protéger : parce que l'éducation qu'on leur donne les laisse sans défense contre l'adulte…}}</ref> In 1999, she released ''Traces'', an English-language autobiography, which she also illustrated. In 2006, ''Harry and Me: The Family Years; 1950–1960'' was published (posthumously), consisting of her self-illustrated memoirs from the decade when she was married to [[Harry Mathews]].

Saint Phalle moved from Paris to [[La Jolla, California]] in 1994 for health reasons.<ref name="LW1990-94" /><ref name="Telegraph"/><ref name="TTG"/><ref name="Johnson"/><ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|79}} She set up a new studio and produced sculptures which were covered with mirrors, glass, and polished stones, instead of paints.<ref name="LW1990-94"/><ref name="TTG"/> In her new workspace, she started to explore novel technologies for designing and creating artwork.<ref name="Fok"/> She also became an active member of the San Diego art scene, participating in fund-raisers and exhibitions there.<ref name="Muchnic"/>

In 1994 she designed a stamp for [[Swiss Post]], with the message "Stop AIDS/Stop SIDA", for which she was awarded the [[Prix Caran d’Ache]].<ref name="Novak">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Biography|url=http://novakart.com/artists/niki-de-saint-phalle/|website=Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Fok"/> She also began a series of silkscreened works, which she called ''California Diary'', featuring local fauna.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|64}} She started a new series of ''Totem'' [[totem pole|pillars of stacked human or animal figures and anatomical fragments]].<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|64}}

In 1994, she finally declared the collaborative sculpture ''Le Cyclop'', started in 1969 by Tinguely and worked on by 15 artists, to be finished.<ref name="Cyclop">{{cite web|title=Le Cyclop de Jean Tinguely|url=https://www.lecyclop.com/en/#loeuvre |website=www.lecyclop.com|language=fr,en|access-date=14 June 2023}}</ref> The President of France, [[François Mitterrand]], opened the work to the general public in May.<ref name="Cyclop"/> To control vandalism, the installation was donated to the French state, which has taken responsibility for its safeguarding and maintenance.<ref name="Cyclop"/> The massive structure is {{convert|22.5|m}} tall, weighs {{convert|350|t|kg}}, and is filled with custom-built artworks, including a giant [[rolling ball sculpture]].<ref name="Cyclop"/> Many of the artworks are [[Kinetic art|kinetic]], endowing the installation with constant motion, and producing loud groaning and other mechanical noises.<ref name="Cyclop"/>

In October 1994, the [[Niki Museum]], dedicated to telling the story of her life and artwork, was opened in [[Nasu, Japan]].<ref name="Fok"/> However, the Niki Museum would later be forced to close in 2011.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Elizabeth|title=Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://wsimag.com/art/18031-niki-de-saint-phalle|website=Wall Street International|access-date=2 May 2017|date=11 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="NikiMus">{{cite web|title=英語版 ニキとヨーコ {{!}} Niki Museum Gallery|url=http://niki-museum.jp/contents/archives/category/english-niki-yoko|website=niki-museum.jp|access-date=2 May 2017|language=ja,en}}</ref>

In 1994, Saint Phalle worked with [[Peter Schamoni]] in making a documentary film about her life story, ''Niki de Saint Phalle: Wer ist das Monster – Du oder ich?'' ("Who is the Monster, You or I?").<ref name="Fok"/><ref name="Gelder">{{cite news|last1=Gelder|first1=Lawrence Van|title=An Artist With Charm and the Impulse to Shock|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/16/movies/an-artist-with-charm-and-the-impulse-to-shock.html|access-date=24 April 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 October 1996}}</ref> In 1995, the film was awarded the [[Bavarian Film Awards|Bavarian Film Award]] for best documentary.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|110}}

In 1996, she began building ''Gila'', a large [[Gila monster|dragon-shaped]] children's playhouse for a San Diego private residence. This project was her first use of digital techniques to enlarge drawings into full-scale construction.<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1996, she supported the opening of the Museum Tinguely in Basel, by donating 55 major sculptures and over 100 graphic works by Tinguely, which constituted much of the core collection.<ref name="Mobio"/><ref name="Fok"/> She also donated some of her and her husband's artwork to create [[:fr:L’Espace Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle|L’Espace Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle]] at the [[Musée d’art et d’histoire (Fribourg)|Musée d’art et d’histoire]] in [[Fribourg, Switzerland]].<ref name="Fok"/>

In 1997, she designed snake chairs of wood with a mosaic inlay, made by Del Cover and Dave Carr.<ref name="Mobio"/>

In 1998, she created a series of ''Black Heroes'' sculptures in honor of African-Americans who made major contributions to sports or [[jazz]], including [[Miles Davis]], [[Louis Armstrong]], and [[Josephine Baker]].<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|65}} ''[[No. 19 Baseball Player|#19 Baseball Player]]'' and ''[[No. 23 Basketball Player|#23 Basketball Player]],'' are apart of this series.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Editor |date=2012-08-08 |title=Niki de Saint Phalle Sculptures Bring Festive Vibe to Park Ave. |url=http://www.artsobserver.com/2012/08/08/niki-de-saint-phalle-sculptures-bring-festive-vibe-to-park-avenue/ |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Arts Observer |language=en-US}}</ref> She dedicated the series to her [[great-grandchildren]], who are of [[mixed race]].<ref name="Fok"/> She also completed her series of 23 large animals for the ''Noah's Ark'' sculptural park at the [[Jerusalem Biblical Zoo]] with the assistance of her international team of artisans, and in collaboration with architect Mario Botta.<ref name="Noah"/><ref name="Fok"/>

In 1999, she debuted a monumental statue of ''Buddha'', a one-eyed contemplative figure seated in the [[lotus position]]. The figure is covered with glittering mosaic tiles, glass, mirrors, and polished stones.

On 17 November 2000, she became an honorary citizen of [[Hanover]], Germany, and donated 300 pieces of her artwork to the [[Sprengel Museum]] located there. In 2000, the artist was awarded the [[Praemium Imperiale]] award for sculpture, by the [[Japan Art Association]].<ref>[http://www.praemiumimperiale.org/en/laureate/sculpture/item/77-saint "Niki de Saint Phalle – Praemium Imperiale"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113064852/http://www.praemiumimperiale.org/en/laureate/sculpture/item/77-saint |date=13 November 2014 }}, Praemium Imperiale, Retrieved 12 November 2014.</ref> The award is considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the world of art.<ref name="Mobio"/>

In 2001, she gave 170 pieces to the [[Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain]] (MAMAC) in [[Nice]], France, and donated other works to the [[Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris|Musée des Arts Décoratifs]] in Paris.<ref name="Mobio"/>

She also designed and built for the [[Port of San Diego]] a {{convert|12|m|adj=on}} tall, 10-ton sculpture, ''Coming Together''. The largest of her ''Skinnies'' series, the artwork consists of a colorful half female and a black-and-white half male face joined, covered with mosaic and stones.<ref name="Mobio"/> The dedication ceremony was delayed to 25 October 2001 because of the [[September 11 attacks]] the previous month; the artist was unable to attend because of her deteriorating health.<ref name="Together-NCAF"/> The artwork signified her interpretation of [[yin and yang]], sickness and health, and the integration of dual aspects into a unified whole.<ref name="Together-NCAF"/>

Saint Phalle endured [[intensive care]] hospitalization for six months<ref name="Robb"/> before dying of respiratory failure (caused by emphysema) at [[Scripps Health|Scripps Memorial Hospital]] in La Jolla, on 21 May 2002.<ref name="Muchnic"/><ref name=Johnson/> She was attended by her first husband Harry Mathews, and their children.<ref name="Weidemann"/>{{rp|79}}<ref name="Levy"/>

Up until the end, she continued to design further developments for her ''Tarot Garden'' in Italy, including a [[maze]], for which land was cleared, and metal rods were installed.<ref name="TTG"/> Upon her death, all new developments in her garden were halted, as she had previously specified.<ref name="TTG"/><ref name="TarotNew-NCAF"/> Since then, some modest changes have been implemented, mostly to accommodate an increasing number of visitors.<ref name="TarotNew-NCAF"/> A garden cafe designed by Mario Botta has also been constructed.<ref name="TarotNew-NCAF"/> One salient exception is the Tarot figure of ''Le Fou'' ("The Fool"), which Saint Phalle relocated within the ''Tarot Garden'' at least twice during her life.<ref name="Pesapane"/>{{rp|54}} This symbolic migrational tradition is expected to be continued from time to time.<ref name="TarotNew-NCAF"/>

Posthumously, the ''Grotto'' (2001–2003) was completed according to detailed instructions left by Saint Phalle. The permanent installation, in the ''Grosser Garten'', [[Herrenhausen Gardens]], Hanover, consisted of three rooms which were decorated on every surface with mirrors, glass, ceramics, and colored stones.<ref name="Herrenhausen">{{cite web|title=The Grotto by Niki de Saint Phalle {{!}} Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen {{!}} Tourist Highlights {{!}} Places of Interest & City Tours {{!}} Tourism & Culture {{!}} Welcome to Hannover {{!}} Home – hannover.de|url=http://www.hannover.de/en/Tourism-Culture/Places-of-Interest-City-Tours/Tourist-Highlights/Royal-Gardens-of-Herrenhausen/The-Grotto-by-Niki-de-Saint-Phalle|website=www.hannover.de|access-date=2 May 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Posthumously, ''[[Queen Califia's Magical Circle]]'' (2000–2003), a {{convert|120|ft|adj=on}} diameter sun-drenched sculpture garden designed by Saint Phalle, was opened in [[Escondido, California]] in October 2002. It is enclosed in a {{convert|400|ft|adj=on}} undulating wall topped with large [[Pythonidae|python]]-like snakes, and includes a maze and 10 large sculptures she designed, comprising the most extensive public collection of her work in the US.<ref name="Califia">{{cite web|title=''Queen Califia's Magical Circle'' Factsheet |url=https://www.escondido.org/Data/Sites/1/media/pdfs/QueenCalifiaFactSheet.pdf |website=escondido.org|publisher=Public Art Commission, Escondido, California|access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Robb"/><ref name="SDTA"/> The artworks were inspired by Native American culture,<ref name="Polignac"/> and decorations also included symbols and plaques referring to her earlier ''Tarot Garden''.

==Legacy==
Throughout her career, Saint Phalle was outspoken in addressing important religious conflict, political, pandemic health, race, gender, reproductive rights, food security, climate change, and cultural issues of the time.<ref name="Krempel">{{cite book|last1=Krempel|first1=Ulrich|last2=Rasmussen|first2=Naja |last3=Selter|first3=Regina|last4=Sieg|first4=Karoline|title=I'm a Fighter: Images of Women by Niki de Saint Phalle|date=2016|publisher=Hatje Cantz|isbn=978-3-7757-4243-6|language=de,en}}</ref><ref name="Jansen"/><ref name="Nechvatal"/><ref name="Together-NCAF"/><ref name="Sluiter"/> Her ''Tirs'' series and assemblages reflected the violence of the early 1960s [[Algerian War]] for independence from France<ref name="Young">{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Paul David |title=PST Causes Explosions Over Los Angeles |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/niki-de-san-phalle-pacific-standard-time-58671/ |website=ARTnews.com |access-date=9 June 2021 |date=23 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="Sluiter"/> and asserted her rebellion as part of [[second-wave feminism]].<ref name="Kearney">{{cite web |last1=Kearney |first1=Beth |title=ARTS — L'art féministe de Niki de Saint Phalle |url=https://www.ficsum.com/dire-archives/automne-2018/arts-lart-feministe-de-niki-de-saint-phalle/ |website=DIRE: La recherche à votre portée |publisher=FICSUM {{!}} Fonds d’investissement des cycles supérieurs de l’Université de Montréal |access-date=23 May 2020 |language=fr-FR |date=2018}}</ref><ref name="Neal" /><ref name="Woods"/> In spite of the spectacular use of firearms in her ''Tirs'' series of early work, she supported [[gun control]].<ref name="Ellis-Petersen"/><ref name="Guns">{{cite web |title=Guns by Niki deSaint Phalle |url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/niki-de-saint-phalle/guns-9WXWLjpUImqY0jpP6zOYww2 |website=www.artnet.com |access-date=11 June 2021}}</ref>

After her foray into modeling in the 1950s, the fashion world again fixated on her appearance during the second half of the 1960s as she gained fame for her artwork, with photo spreads of her in prominent fashion magazines and designer [[Marc Bohan]] of [[Dior]] designing clothes exclusively for her.<ref>{{cite journal |editor1-last=Vreeland |editor1-first=Diana |title=Niki de Saint-Phalle – The Romantic Point of View |journal=Vogue |date=1968-01-01 |volume=151 |issue=1 |pages=82-85 |publisher=The Condé Nast Publications |location=New York, NY, USA |quote=...Niki de Saint-Phalle works in white jeans – on which she jots memos and notes – and a cotton T-shirt. When she isn't working, she escapes into the most romantic clothes in the world –...velvet and satin jumpsuits, long-skirted tailleurs, swirling capes, ruffles, ringlets, and narrow, neat little boots....She...wear[s]...romantic clothes..., completely individual turnouts designed for her...by Marc Bohan...at the House of Dior.}}</ref> Her personal style of dress during the mid-sixties inspired designer [[Yves Saint Laurent (designer)|Yves Saint Laurent]] to create his "[[le Smoking]]" trouser suits in 1966, versions of which he continued to produce for decades afterward.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Emerson |first1=Gloria |author-link=Gloria Emerson |title=A Nude Dress That Isn't: Saint Laurent in a New, Mad Mood |journal=The New York Times |date=5 August 1966 |page=R53 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/08/05/archives/a-nude-dress-that-isnt-saint-laurent-in-a-new-mad-mood.html |access-date=23 July 2023 |quote=Niki de Saint-Phalle, an American artist living in [France], has had the best influence of all on Saint Laurent...Miss Saint-Phalle...always wears trouser suits with...boots....Now Saint Laurent has copied her 'black tie' trouser suit in velvet and in wool....In wool, it has a very ruffly white shirt, a big black bow at the neck, a wide cummerbund of satin, and satin stripes down the rather wide pants. It is worn with...satin boots.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=First Tuxedo |url=https://museeyslparis.com/en/biography/premier-smoking |website=[[Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris]] |access-date=18 July 2023 |quote=In his Autumn-Winter 1966 collection, Yves Saint Laurent introduced his most iconic piece: the tuxedo....[T]he Saint Laurent Rive Gauche version was a success. The label’s younger clientele was quick to purchase it, making the tuxedo a classic. Saint Laurent would go on to include it in each of his collections until 2002.}}</ref>

Her enormous, curvaceous ''Nanas'' celebrated the fecund female form, featuring large breasts and buttocks, splayed limbs, joyous dance postures, and often, black skin.<ref name="Ellis-Petersen"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Californian Diary: Black is Different by Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/niki-de-saint-phalle/californian-diary-black-is-different-a-_5h7F2pXEkAyNjNJlbmcYw2|website=www.artnet.com|access-date=6 May 2017}}</ref> She was one of the earliest artistic champions of AIDS awareness,<ref name="Ellis-Petersen"/> creating artworks and a widely distributed educational book.<ref name="AIDS-NCAF"/><ref name="Greenberger2020"/> Shortly before her death, she exhibited drawings critical of the [[George W Bush]] administration.<ref name="Ellis-Petersen"/><ref name="Pol-NCAF">{{cite web|title=A Political Artist|url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/a-political-artist/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017|date=6 November 2016}}</ref> In addition to her artworks, she wrote extensively in both French and English, and granted numerous interviews; much of this material is collected in her archives.<ref name="Archives-NCAF"/>

Wayne Coyne of [[The Flaming Lips]] cited Saint Phalle's sculpture ''Firebird'' as direct inspiration for the cover art of their hugely successful 2002 album ''[[Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coyne |first1=Wayne |author1-link=The Flaming Lips |title=The Flaming Lips - Wayne Explains The Cover Art: Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (20th Anniversary) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niB0k73Oye8 |website=youtube.com |publisher=[[The Flaming Lips]] |language=en |format=video |date=30 November 2022}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150">
File:HaMifletzetGardenNov102022 01.jpg|''Golem'' (1971), [[Kiryat Hayovel]], Israel
File:La Grande Lune.JPG|''La Grande Lune'' ("Great Moon", 1985/1992), MAHF [[Fribourg]], Switzerland
File:St-Phalle Ulm-29-24.jpg|''Adam and Eve'' (1985), [[Ulm]], Germany

File:DuisburgInnenstadt.jpg|''Lifesaver Fountain'' (1993), [[Duisburg]], Germany
File:Losanna, museo olimpico, niki de saint-phalle, les footballers, 1993.JPG|''Les Footballeurs'' ("Soccer Players", 1993), [[The Olympic Museum]], Lausanne
File:Zürich HB Halle Ri Osten Schutzengel.jpg|''L'Ange Protecteur'' ("Guardian Angel", 1997), [[Zürich Hauptbahnhof]]
</gallery>

== Major exhibitions ==
{{expand section|date=April 2016}}
* 1998 ''Niki de Saint Phalle : insider, outsider world inspired art'', Mingei International Museum on The Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, California
* 2000 ''La Fête. Die Schenkung Niki de Saint Phalle'' ("Celebration: The Donation of Niki de Saint Phalle"), Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany
* 2002  [retrospective], Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMAC), Nice, France
* 2014 ''Niki de Saint Phalle'', [[Grand Palais]], Galeries nationales, Paris, France<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.grandpalais.fr/fr/article/niki-de-saint-phalle-lexposition|title=Niki de Saint Phalle, l'exposition|work=RMN – Grand Palais|access-date=14 March 2018|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.grandpalais.fr/fr/article/niki-de-saint-phalle-toute-lexpo|title=Niki de Saint Phalle : toute l'expo|work=RMN – Grand Palais|access-date=14 March 2018|language=fr}}</ref>
* 2016 ''Niki de Saint Phalle'', Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark
* 2021 ''Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life'', [[MoMA PS1]], Queens, New York City<ref name="Hickman"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenberger |first1=Alex |title=Niki de Saint Phalle, Pioneering French Feminist Artist, to Be Subject of Major Survey at MoMA PS1 in New York |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/niki-de-saint-phalle-moma-ps1-13245/ |website=ARTnews.com |access-date=15 May 2020 |date=18 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life at MoMA PS1. Preview of exhibition until MoMA PS1 reopens to the public |url=https://artssummary.com/2020/03/27/niki-de-saint-phalle-structures-for-life-at-moma-ps1-preview-of-exhibition-until-moma-ps1-reopens-to-the-public/ |website=Arts Summary |access-date=15 May 2020 |language=en |date=27 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="Schjeldahl"/><ref name="Delson">{{cite news |last1=Delson |first1=Susan |title=Artist Niki de Saint Phalle Took Joy Seriously |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/artist-niki-de-saint-phalle-took-joy-seriously-11613760915?mod=searchresults_pos2&page=1 |access-date=22 April 2021 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=19 February 2021}}</ref>
* 2021-2022 ''Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s'', [[Menil Collection]], Houston, Texas; [[Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego]]<ref name="Menil">{{cite web |title=Niki De Saint Phalle In The 1960s |url=https://www.menil.org/exhibitions/350-niki-de-saint-phalle-in-the-1960s |website=Menil |publisher=The Menil Collection |access-date=22 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MCASD">{{cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s |url=https://www.mcasd.org/exhibitions/niki-de-saint-phalle-1960s |website=Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego |publisher=MCASD |access-date=22 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
* 2024 ''Niki de Saint Phalle: Rebellion and Joy,'' [[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]], Kansas City, Missouri<ref>{{Cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Rebellion and Joy {{!}} Nelson-Atkins |url=https://nelson-atkins.org/exhibitions/niki-de-saint-phalle-rebellion-joy/ |access-date=3 March 2024 |website=Nelson Atkins |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Public art ==
<!-- Organized in chronological order, with multi-year projects sorted by completion date; add as-yet-undated works at the bottom -->
[[File:Niki de Saint Phalle Budha.jpg|thumb|''Buddha'' (1999)]]
[[File:Schwäbisch Hall-Kunsthalle Würth- Niki de Saint Phalle-03.jpg|thumb|''[[Nikigator]]'' (2001)]]
[[File:Picswiss FR-14-40.jpg|thumb|upright|''Oiseau Amoureux'' (1993)]]

Many of Saint Phalle's sculptures are large and are exhibited in public places. The Niki Charitable Art Foundation maintains an online map and catalog of all her extant public artworks, including a [[pizza oven]] in [[La Jolla, California]].<ref name="PubMap-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Public Works|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/public-works/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Pizza-NCAF">{{cite web |title=Fond of food, fun, friends and ... fish? |url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/fond-food-fun-friends-fish/ |website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation |access-date=25 May 2020 |date=23 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="SDTA">{{cite web |title=The Magic of Niki de Saint Phalle |url=https://www.sandiego.org/articles/arts-culture/the-magic-of-niki-de-saint-phalle.aspx |website=San Diego |publisher=San Diego Tourism Authority |access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref>
* ''Le Paradis Fantastique'' ("The Fantastic Paradise", 1967), Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (in collaboration with Tinguely)
* ''Golem'' (1971), [[Kiryat Hayovel]], Jerusalem<ref name="Steinberg">{{cite news|last1=Steinberg|first1=Jessica|title=Jerusalemites fear for the Monster Slide park|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalemites-fear-for-the-monster-slide-park/|access-date=14 April 2017|work=The Times of Israel|date=20 February 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://jerusalemfoundation.org/city.php?id=135] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050910194136/http://jerusalemfoundation.org/city.php?id=135|date=10 September 2005}}</ref>
* ''Hannover Nanas'' (1973), along the Leibnizufer in [[Hanover]], Germany
* ''La Fontaine Stravinsky'' (''[[Stravinsky Fountain]]'' or ''Fontaine des automates'', 1982) near the [[Centre Pompidou]], Paris (in collaboration with Tinguely)
* ''[[Sun God (statue)|Sun God]]'' (1983), a fanciful winged creature next to the Faculty Club on the campus of the [[University of California San Diego]] as a part of the [[Stuart Collection]] of public art
* ''La Lune'' ("The Moon", 1987), [[Brea Mall]] in [[Brea, California]]
* ''Fontaine de Château-Chinon'' (1988), at [[Château-Chinon (Ville)|Château-Chinon]], Nièvre (in collaboration with Tinguely), a commission by French President [[François Mitterrand]]
* ''Le Grand Oiseau Amoureux'' ("Great Amorous Bird", 1988–1989), [[Mendrisio, Switzerland]], depicts a ''Nana'' in a [[Yab-Yum]] embrace with a large standing bird<ref name="MT-OA">{{cite web|title=Le Grand Oiseau Amoureux|url=http://www.tinguely.ch/PDFGeneratorServlet?pageuuid=3ba2ab24-3d45-475a-861d-be1d2600acac&period=1980-1991&detail=f79b1841-c69e-4bef-8833-9731361d765b|website=Museum Tinguely|access-date=18 April 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419192614/http://www.tinguely.ch/PDFGeneratorServlet?pageuuid=3ba2ab24-3d45-475a-861d-be1d2600acac&period=1980-1991&detail=f79b1841-c69e-4bef-8833-9731361d765b|archive-date=19 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Le bestiaire de Niki de Saint Phalle|url=http://www.grandpalais.fr/fr/article/le-bestiaire-de-niki-de-saint-phalle|website=RMN – Grand Palais|publisher=Réunion des musées nationaux et du grand Palais des Champs-Elysées|access-date=22 April 2017|language=fr}}</ref>
* ''Grand Oiseau de Feu sur l’arche'' ("Great Firebird on the Arch", 1991), in front of [[Bechtler Museum of Modern Art|Bechtler Plaza]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.charlotteviewpoint.org/article/127/Firebird-Finds-its-Nest-at-the-Bechtler-Museum-of- |title=Firebird Finds its Nest at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art |author=Sarah Gay |date=5 November 2009 |publisher=Charlotte Viewpoint |access-date=9 August 2010}}</ref>
* ''La Tempérance'' (1992) in Centre Hamilius, [[Luxembourg (city)|Luxembourg-Ville]], Luxembourg (this work was in storage as the site was being demolished).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/public/luxembourg/luxembourg/la_temperance |title=La Tempérance, 1992 — Luxembourg |publisher=Nikidesaintphalle.org |access-date=20 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823075430/http://nikidesaintphalle.org/public/luxembourg/luxembourg/la_temperance |archive-date=23 August 2011 }}</ref>
* ''Le Monstre du Loch Ness'' ("[[Loch Ness Monster]]", 1992), [[Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain]] (MAMAC), [[Nice]], France
* ''Oiseau Amoureux Fontaine / Lebensretter-Brunnen'' ("Amorous Bird Fountain / Lifesaver Fountain", 1989–1993), [[Duisburg]], Germany (in collaboration with Tinguely)
* ''Le Cyclop'' (1969–1994), [[Milly-la-Forêt]], France (in collaboration with Tinguely and 15 other artists)<ref name="Cyclop"/><ref>[http://www.art-public.com/cyclop/cyclop_g.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210001214/http://www.art-public.com/cyclop/cyclop_g.htm|date=10 February 2006}}</ref>
* ''Tympanum'' (1996) triangular mirror mosaic and mirrored pediment above the entrance to the [[Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art]], Scotland<ref>{{cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/13081194.niki-de-saint-phalle-gallery-modern-art-glasgow/ |website=HeraldScotland |publisher=Herald & Times Group |access-date=6 June 2021 |language=en |date=16 November 2012}}</ref>
* ''L'Ange Protecteur'' ("Guardian Angel", 1997) in the hall of the [[Zürich Hauptbahnhof]], the largest rail station in Switzerland
* ''Le poète et sa muse'' ("Poet and His Muse", 1998), [[Mingei International Museum]] on The Prado, Balboa Park, [[San Diego]], California
* ''Big Ganesh'' (1998), [[Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego|San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art]], the Hindu elephant-god [[Ganesh]] dances with a small mouse<ref name="Ganesh">{{cite web|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Big Ganesh|url=http://www.mcasd.org/artists/niki-de-saint-phalle|website=Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego|access-date=17 April 2017|date=5 December 2012}}</ref>
* ''Miles Davis'' (1999), outside of [[Hotel Negresco]] in Nice, France
* ''Ricardo Cat'' (1999), [[Laumeier Sculpture Park]], Saint Louis, Missouri<ref>{{Cite web |title=Niki de Saint Phalle |url=https://www.laumeiersculpturepark.org/niki-de-saint-phalle |access-date=13 January 2024 |website=Laumeier Sculpture Park |language=en-US}}</ref>
* ''Noah's Ark'' (1994–2001), [[Jerusalem Biblical Zoo]], 23 works in a collaborative sculpture park with architect [[Mario Botta]]<ref name="Noah">{{cite web |url=http://designistdream.com/page/11/ |title=Where the Wild Things Art |date=4 November 2007 |access-date=16 November 2010 |publisher=designistdream.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709014942/http://designistdream.com/page/11/ |archive-date=9 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/events/califia/chronology.pdf |title=Niki de Saint Phalle Chronology (1930–2002) |access-date=16 November 2010 |publisher=ci.escondido.ca.us |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117065506/http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/events/califia/chronology.pdf |archive-date=17 November 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Steinberg" />
* ''[[Nikigator]]'' (2001), [[Mingei International Museum]] on The Prado, [[Balboa Park (San Diego)|Balboa Park]], San Diego, California
* ''Coming Together'' (2001), [[San Diego Convention Center]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portofsandiego.org/sandiego_publicart/nikidestphalleccart.asp |title=Public Art Department |publisher=Port of San Diego |access-date=4 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510020317/http://www.portofsandiego.org/sandiego_publicart/nikidestphalleccart.asp |archive-date=10 May 2008 }}</ref>
* ''Grotto'' (2001–2003), [[Herrenhäuser Gardens]] in Hanover, Germany<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hannover.de/herrenhausen/gaerten/gro_garten/elemente/grotte_deutsch/index.html |title=Von 2001 bis 2003 ist die historische Grotte nach den Plänen der Künstlerin Niki de Saint Phalle neu ausgestaltet worden |publisher=Hannover.de |access-date=9 August 2010}}</ref>
* ''[[Queen Califia's Magical Circle]]'' (2003), a sculpture garden in [[Kit Carson Park]], [[Escondido, California]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queencalifia.org |title=Queen Califia's Magical Circle Garden |publisher=Queencalifia.org |access-date=4 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="SDTA"/>

== Museums and collections ==
[[File:Macedonian Museums-76-Maked Sygxronhs Texnhs Thess-335.jpg|thumb|upright|''Adam'']]
A “[[Jean Tinguely]]–Niki de Saint Phalle Museum” exists in [[Fribourg]], [[Switzerland]], entirely dedicated to her and her husbands’ works.

The [[Sprengel Museum]] has the largest holdings of Niki de Saint Phalle's work,<ref name="Muchnic"/> and other major holdings are at [[Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain|MAMAC]].<ref name="Collections-NCAF"/>  

The [[Bechtler Museum of Modern Art]] in Charlotte, North Carolina has several works by Niki de Saint Phalle in its permanent collection, as well as the ''Grand Oiseau de Feu sur l’arche'' ("Great Firebird on the Arch", 1991) which stands on a sidewalk outside the museum.[https://www.tripsavvy.com/firebird-sculpture-charlote-583845]

The Saint Phalle archives and artistic rights are held by the Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF) in [[Santee, California]], near San Diego, which became active upon her passing.<ref name="Archives-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Archives|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/foundation/archives/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Levy"/> The NCAF maintains an online catalog of artworks in museums and major collections.<ref name="Collections-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Museums & Collections|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/niki-de-saint-phalle/museums-collections/|website=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

== Bibliography (by publication date) ==
<!-- Organize in chronological order -->
[[File:Niki de Saint Phalle 2011 in Schwäbisch Hall. 02.jpg|thumb|upright|''The World'']]
* {{cite book|last1=Saint Phalle|first1=Niki de|title=AIDS: You Can't Catch It Holding Hands|date=1987|publisher=Lapis Press|location=San Francisco, California|isbn=0-932499-52-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aids00niki}}
* {{cite book|last1=Saint Phalle|first1=Niki de|title=Mon secret|date=1994|publisher=La Différence|location=Paris|isbn=978-2729109783|language=fr}} – autobiography
* {{cite book|last1=Hulten|first1=Pontus|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland|date=1995|publisher=[[Gerd Hatje|Verlag Gerd Hatje]]|location=Stuttgart|isbn=3-7757-0582-1|edition=2nd|language=de}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Mazzanti|editor-first1=Anna|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: The Tarot Garden: [created on the occasion of the exhibition "Il giardino dei Tarocchi di Niki de Saint Phalle" at Orbetello, Polveriera Guzman in 1997]|date=1998|publisher=Charta|location=Milan|isbn=88-8158-167-1|edition=1. Ital.}}
* {{cite book|editor-last= Longenecker|editor-first= Martha |display-editors=etal |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Insider, Outsider World Inspired Art: The 20th anniversary exhibition of Mingei International Museum.|date=1998|publisher=Mingei Internat. Museum|location=LaJolla|isbn=0-914155-10-5}}
* {{cite book|last1= Saint Phalle|first1=Niki de|title=Traces: An autobiography|date=1999|publisher=Acatos|location=Lausanne|isbn=2-940033-43-9}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Parente |editor-first1=Janice |display-authors=etal |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Catalogue Raisonné: 1949–2000|date=2001|publisher=Ed. Acatos|location=Lausanne|isbn=2-940033-48-X}}
* {{cite book|last1=de Gréce|first1=Michele |display-authors=etal |title=Niki de Saint Phalle Monographie, Monograph, Catalogue raisonné|date=2002|publisher=Acatos|location=Lausanne|isbn=2-940033-63-3}}
* {{cite book|last1= Landeshauptstadt Hannover, Fachbereich Umwelt und Stadtgrün|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: The Grotto; [published on the occasion of the opening of the Grotto designed by Niki de Saint Phalle in the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover]|date=2003|publisher=[[Hatje Cantz Verlag]]|location=Ostfildern-Ruit|isbn=3-7757-1276-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Schulz-Hoffmann|first1=Carla|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: My Art, My Dreams|date=2003|publisher=Prestel|location=Munich; Berlin; London; New York|isbn=3-7913-2876-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/nikidesaintphall0000sain}}
* {{cite book|last1=Krempel|first1= Ulrich|last2=Jackson|first2=Rosie |title=Niki's world: Niki de Saint Phalle|date=2004|publisher=Prestel|location=Munich|isbn=3-7913-3068-3|edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book|last1=Saint Phalle|first1=Niki de|last2=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|title=Harry and me: the family years; 1950–1960|date=2006|publisher=Benteli Publishers|location=[Wabern-Bern]|isbn=3-7165-1442-X}}
* Applin, Jo, "Alberto Burri and Niki de Saint Phalle: Relief Sculpture and Violence in the Sixties", ''Source: Notes in the History of Art'', Winter 2008
* [[Catherine Francblin]], {{cite book|title=Niki de Saint Phalle: la révolte à l'œuvre: biographie|date=2013|publisher=Hazan|location=Paris|isbn=978-2754104975|language=fr}}
* {{cite book|last1=Weidemann|first1=Christiane|title=Niki de Saint Phalle|date=2014|publisher=Prestel|isbn=978-3-7913-4975-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Pesapane|first1=Lucia|last2=Saint Phalle|first2=Niki de|last3=Niki Charitable Art Foundation|title=Le petit dictionnaire Niki de Saint Phalle: en 49 symboles|date=2014|publisher=Réunion des musées nationales|location=Paris|isbn=978-2-7118-6155-2|language=fr}} – Compendium of recurring symbols in the artist's work, and some of their possible meanings
* {{cite book|last1=Gether|first1=Christian|last2=Høholt|first2=Stine|last3=Jalving|first3=Camilla|title=Niki de Sainte Phalle|date=2016|publisher=Arken|location=Ishøj, Denmark|isbn=9788778751140}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Krempel |editor1-first=Ulrich |editor2-last=Selter |editor2-first=Regina |title=Ich bin eine Kämpferin: Frauenbilder der Niki de Saint Phalle = I'm a fighter: images of women by Niki de Saint Phalle |date=2016 |publisher=Hatje Cantz |isbn=978-3-7757-4243-6 |language=de, en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Saint-Phalle |first1=Niki de |title=Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life |date=2021 |publisher=MoMA PS1 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-942884-67-5}} – Catalog of the artist's first retrospective exhibition in New York City, where the artist spent much of her childhood and adolescence
* {{cite book |last1=Dawsey |first1=Jill |title=Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s |date=2021 |publisher=Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego|location=San Diego, California |isbn=978-0300260106}} – Catalog of exhibition covering the 1960s ''Tirs'' and early ''Nanas'' series of artworks

A short, annotated bibliography is available at the Niki Charitable Art Foundation website.<ref name="PubAwards-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Recent publications – The season of awards|url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/2014/11/|website=Niki de Saint Phalle|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017|date=21 November 2014}}</ref>

{{As of|February 2022}}, an online ''[[catalogue raisonné]]'' of the artist's "Nanas" is "forthcoming".<ref name="CatRais-NCAF">{{cite web|title=Catalog Raisonné Project|url=http://nikidesaintphalle.org/catalog-raisonne-project/|website=Niki de Saint Phalle|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
* ''[[Daddy (1973)|Daddy]]'' (1973), written and directed by Saint Phalle and [[Peter Whitehead (filmmaker)|Peter Lorrimer Whitehead]]
* ''[[Un rêve plus long que la nuit / Camélia et le Dragon]]'' ("A dream longer than the night / Camelia and the Dragon", 1976), written and directed by Saint Phalle
* ''{{Interlanguage link|Niki de Saint Phalle: Wer ist das Monster – Du oder ich?|de}}'' ("Who is the Monster, You or I?", 1995), biographical documentary (in German) by [[Peter Schamoni]] in collaboration with Saint Phalle
* ''Niki de Saint Phalle: Introspections and Reflections'' (2003), posthumous documentary by André Blas
* ''Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely: [[Bonnie and Clyde]] of the arts'' (2012), posthumous documentary by [[Louise Faure]] and [[Anne Julien]]<ref name="PubAwards-NCAF"/>
* ''Niki de Saint Phalle, un rêve d’architecte'' (''Niki de Saint Phalle: An architect’s dream'', 2014), posthumous documentary by Louise Faure and Anne Julien<ref name="PubAwards-NCAF"/>
* ''[[Niki (2024 film)|Niki]]'', 2024 biopic on Saint Phalle's life, directed by Céline Sallette with [[Charlotte Le Bon]] playing the title role<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/niki-artist-niki-de-saint-phalle-international-sales-1235912074/|title='Niki' About French-American Artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, Sells to Major Territories (Exclusive)|date=16 February 2024 |publisher=Variety}}</ref>

A comprehensive listing is at the Niki Charitable Art Foundation website.<ref name="AV-NCAF">{{cite web |title=Videos and Films in the Niki Charitable Art Foundation Archives |url=https://nikidesaintphalle.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/NCAF-Audio-Visual-Library.pdf |website=Niki de Saint Phalle|publisher=Niki Charitable Art Foundation (NCAF)|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Isabelle Collin Dufresne]]
* [[Louise Bourgeois]]
* [[Marisol Escobar]]
* [[Nouveau réalisme]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Carrick, Jill. “Phallic Victories? Niki de Saint-Phalle’s Tirs”, Art History, vol 26, no. 5, November 2003, pp.&nbsp;700–729.
* {{cite web|last1=Rosko|first1=Zoran|title=Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) – Egzorcizam puškom (Exorcism by rifle)|url=http://roskofrenija.blogspot.com/2012/08/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002.html|website=roškofrenija|access-date=13 April 2017|language=hr, en}} – various reviews of Saint Phalle's artworks and cinema

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Niki de Saint Phalle}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=no|onlinebooksby=no}}
* [http://www.nikidesaintphalle.org/ Official website of the artist's foundation, NCAF]
* [http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/en/ Official website of the ''Tarot Garden'' sculpture park]
* [https://www.escondido.org/queen-califias-magical-circle.aspx Official website of ''Queen Califia's Magical Circle'' sculpture park]
* [http://www.lecyclop.com/ Official website of ''Le Cyclop'']
* [http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artist/de-saint-phalle.html Stuart Collection, UCSD]
* [http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/tuscan/index.shtml Personal blog on ''Tarot Garden'']
* [http://nikidesaintphalle.org/catalog-raisonne-project/ Catalogue Raisonné research]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLcmyExFqdM Walkthrough video tour of the ''Tarot Garden'', from the Grand Palais retrospective]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBomLgTfZdY#t=2493.379555027 ''Niki de Saint Phalle – Der Traum vom fantastischen Garten'', 50-minute documentary by Fabian Hirschi (in German)]
* [https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/tate/global-modernisms/global-pop/a/key-points A brief video overview of Saint Phalle's art, produced by the Tate Gallery] and presented by the [[Khan Academy]]
* [https://vimeo.com/172405445 Video excerpt showing construction, operation, and later demolition of ''Hon – en katedral'']

{{Niki de Saint Phalle|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Phalle, Niki de}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century French painters]]
[[Category:20th-century French sculptors]]
[[Category:French autobiographers]]
[[Category:French contemporary artists]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Italy]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Spain]]
[[Category:French expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:French female models]]
[[Category:French filmmakers]]
[[Category:French untitled nobility]]
[[Category:French modern painters]]
[[Category:French modern sculptors]]
[[Category:Nouveau réalisme artists]]
[[Category:Artists from Neuilly-sur-Seine]]
[[Category:Painters from Île-de-France]]
[[Category:Pop artists]]
[[Category:Legion of Honour refusals]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale]]
[[Category:Deaths from emphysema]]
[[Category:Brearley School alumni]]
[[Category:Women autobiographers]]
[[Category:20th-century French women painters]]
[[Category:People associated with tarot]]