Details
NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE
Oiseau
signed on the underside of the figure’s right wing
acrylic and wax crayon on plaster
3 by 5⅞ by 2⅜ in. 7.6 by 14.9 by 6 cm.
Executed in 1972.
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Milan
Jeschke van Vliet Auctions Berlin GmbH, Berlin, November 16, 2012, lot 352
Private Collection
EXHIBITED
Belfast, The MAC; Dundee Contemporary Arts; Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness, October 2017 - September 2018, p. 53, illustrated in color
CATALOGUE NOTE
Composed of organic shapes painted in vivid chromatic hues, Oiseau depicts a bird, wings outstretched in preparation for flight. The present work is a tabletop iteration of a recurring theme in Niki de Saint Phalle’s body of work, which notably includes birds and other animals as well as female figures. A visionary feminist and committed activist, Niki de Saint Phalle held a deeply personal belief that art was meant to critique the world around us. In the present work, de Saint Phalle transformed the natural form of the bird into a whimsical, bright biomorph, thus rebelling against the boundaries of lived experience.
For all enquires, please contact David.Schrader@sothebys.com
Oiseau
signed on the underside of the figure’s right wing
acrylic and wax crayon on plaster
3 by 5⅞ by 2⅜ in. 7.6 by 14.9 by 6 cm.
Executed in 1972.
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Milan
Jeschke van Vliet Auctions Berlin GmbH, Berlin, November 16, 2012, lot 352
Private Collection
EXHIBITED
Belfast, The MAC; Dundee Contemporary Arts; Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, Shonky: The Aesthetics of Awkwardness, October 2017 - September 2018, p. 53, illustrated in color
CATALOGUE NOTE
Composed of organic shapes painted in vivid chromatic hues, Oiseau depicts a bird, wings outstretched in preparation for flight. The present work is a tabletop iteration of a recurring theme in Niki de Saint Phalle’s body of work, which notably includes birds and other animals as well as female figures. A visionary feminist and committed activist, Niki de Saint Phalle held a deeply personal belief that art was meant to critique the world around us. In the present work, de Saint Phalle transformed the natural form of the bird into a whimsical, bright biomorph, thus rebelling against the boundaries of lived experience.
For all enquires, please contact David.Schrader@sothebys.com
