Niki de Saint Phalle
Hardcover
Series: Basic Art
Art HistoryIndividual ArtistsArt & Popular Culture
ISBN13: 9783754400050
Publisher: Taschen
Published: Dec 24 2025
Pages: 96
Weight: 1.35
Height: 0.60 Width: 8.30 Depth: 10.20
Language: English
A key contributor to Nouveau Réalisme in early 1960s Paris, Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) worked alongside artists such as Arman, Yves Klein, and Jean Tinguely, scavenging real objects in place of traditional art materials. She connected art to life by instrumentalizing household items, machine parts, and even toys for her early assemblages. Saint Phalle created her first shooting painting, or Tir, in 1961, and went on to conduct these performances in such varied locations as the Impasse Ronsin in Paris, a garden in Amsterdam, a sandpit outside Stockholm, and the Malibu Hills. Reliefs made of plaster, small objects, paint, wood, and wire were punctured by the bullets of a gun.
This book provides an introduction to Saint Phalle's work, highlighting some of her most important contributions to 20th century art. From birthing mothers to harbingers of death, she created sculptures that celebrated and exposed the female form in works such as Pink Birth (1964) and Hon En Kathedral (1966). She also used real-life figures as inspiration: her early Nana sculptures are named after the artist's women friends and family members. She later extended her practice to films such as Daddy (1973), artist's books including AIDS: You Can't Catch it Holding Hands (1987), and the Tarot Garden, a monumental sculpture park with figures modeled on the 22 named cards of the Major Arcana figures in the Tarot deck, the karmic cards of destiny.
Also in
Art History
The Secrets of Art: Uncovering the Mysteries and Messages of Great Works of Art
Mancoff, Debra N.
Hardcover
Progressive Design in the Midwest: The Purcell-Cutts House and the Prairie School Collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Olivarez, Jennifer Komar
Paperback
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
Paint by Sticker (Official): Works of Art: Re-Create 12 Iconic Masterpieces One Sticker at a Time!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Paint by Sticker (Official): Masterpieces: Re-Create 12 Iconic Artworks One Sticker at a Time!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Oliver Byrne's Elements of Euclid: The First Six Books with Coloured Diagrams and Symbols (Art Meets Science Edition)
Art Meets Science
Hardcover
Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings: A Serious Exploration of Art History's Silliest Expressions
Mierlo, Matthijs Van
Hardcover
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Hardcover
Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
Ramirez, Janina
Paperback
Paint by Sticker (Official): Portraits: Re-Create 12 Historic Paintings One Sticker at a Time!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
The Secrets of Painting: The Hidden Art of the Masterpiece from Prehistory to Today
Goudie, Lachlan
Hardcover
Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum
Sciolino, Elaine
Paperback
The Short Story of Queer Art: A Pocket Guide to Key Movements, Works, Themes & Breakthroughs
Hoskin, Dawn
Paperback
Flashes of Brilliance: The Genius of Early Photography and How It Transformed Art, Science, and History
Burgess, Anika
Hardcover
The Annotated Mona Lisa, Third Edition: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to the Present
Strickland, Carol
Paperback
AP Art History Premium, Sixth Edition: Prep Book with 5 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Nici, John B., M. a.
Paperback
Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us about the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive
Ramsey, Russ
Hardcover
The Art of the Unknown: A Visual Treasury of the Esoteric, Uncanny and Unexplained
Elizabeth, S.
Hardcover
Weaving at Black Mountain College: Anni Albers, Trude Guermonprez, and Their Students
Beggs, Michael
Thomson, Julie J.
Hardcover
