Niki de Saint Phalle : le bestiaire magique

Exhibition at the Hôtel de Caumont, Aix-en-Provence, 30 April - 5 October 2025

Popularised by her incredible Nanas, Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) developed a world full of joyful energy and poetry. Her works often have an autobiographical dimension, evoking her experiences marked by a constant thirst for creation, which led her in particular to large-scale sculpture. Her fantastic bestiary is particularly visible in the monumental public projects (fountains, playgrounds) and architectural projects she began in the 1960s.

This exhibition catalogue retraces Niki de Saint Phalle's entire career, offering an original reading through the prism of animal representation. It emphasises the fascination that animals and monstrous creatures held for the artist throughout her life, showing how the artist's magical bestiary, a combination of symbolism, myth, autobiographical narrative and the legacy of Surrealism, forms a major part of her work.