NIKI DE SAINT-PHALLE | I. TOTEM, UPSIDE DOWN NANA, LE TEMOIN | II. NANA SANTÉ | III. STRENGTH [3 WORKS]

Niki de Saint Phalle was a sculptor, painter, and filmmaker, best known for her monumental sculpture and Nanas. Following a thematic period of violence and aggression in de Saint-Phalle’s work, the first Nanas appeared in 1965 for a solo exhibition at the Galerie Alexandre Iolas in Paris. As de Saint-Phalle grew artistically and intellectually, so did her craft. Where the shocking and dramatic Shooting paintings recalled her disturbing childhood and deep-seated anger toward men, the Nanas evoke a positive message of recovery and strength. Straying from gunshots and gore, her creations grew increasingly joyous, playful and quintessentially feminist. With voluptuous curves and hyperbolic proportions, the Nanascelebrate women; they applaud the female figure in all of its art historical significance, challenging conventional expectations of a woman’s role in society. The present works present an archetype–the ‘Everywoman’–embracing feminist ideology in form and content.