exhibitionNiki de Saint Phalle

In 1978, Niki de Saint Phalle launched into the realisation of a great project, both an artistic and a living space: the « Jardin des Tarots », a set of monumental sculptures among the trees in Tuscany, which opened to the public 20 years later. Inspired by the 22 major arcana of the Tarot de Marseille, her sculptures, mosaics and fountains take up the symbols from these cards. In the middle stands the Empress, a house-sculpture in which Niki de Saint Phalle lived.

But to be able to undertake the construction of this gigantic work, and to design it according to her will, she would need to be financially independent. 
Luckily for her, in order to achieve this she had a few aces up her sleeve...

She began to create everyday objects that she would produce in several copies and put up for sale. This production allowed her to become her own patron (the income from the perfume she launched in 1982 alone financed a third of the garden) but also to share her art directly with the public.
Indeed, Niki de Saint Phalle wanted to make art accessible to all: through the furniture and objects she sold (lamps, armchairs, tables, chairs, jewellery, etc.) or by regularly creating monumental works for public spaces.

The exhibition

Once past the huge moucharaby of inflatable chicks, the Loch Ness monster welcomes visitors to the museum's large nave. The side rooms conceal elements of the Tarot Garden as well as perfume bottles, dresses, jewellery and other furniture.
It features an extraordinary bestiary: bats, killer whales, or even her totem animal, the snake, both attractive and frightening, which is found in many of her creations.