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Lot Essay
"With virtually no artist of her generation are life and work so inextricably linked as is the case with Niki de Saint Phalle. Born in France, she received an upper-class American upbringing and even as a child rebelled against the woman's role that was marked out for her. Initially, however, she had no means of breaking out of such a role and, for a time, followed the course expected of her: she was barely nineteen when she married the young, good-looking and affluent Harry Mathews and within a matter of years was the mother of two young children. She grew so painfully conscious of the contradiction between her claims to independence and her day-to-day existence that she suffered a nervous breakdown." (in Uta Grosenck, Niki de Saint Phalle's letters - An Introduction, published in Niki de Saint Phalle, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn 1992, p. 144).
The work of Niki de Saint Phalle combined a 'Nouveau Réaliste' approach, influenced by the likes of Rauschenberg and Johns, with a rebellion against the stereotypical view of the woman. The Nana series allowed Niki de Saint Phalle to come to terms with and express her longing for power and freedom as a woman. The desire for psychological liberty took the form of large figures decorated in bold colours expressing self-confidence and demanding attention. Niki de Saint Phalle, who first started the Nana series in 1965, continued to be preoccupied with similar concerns in the 1990s. Here we see an example in which the Nana figure is further empowered by combining the large curvaceous womanly features with those of Horus, an Egyptian god. According to the story of Isis and Osiris, Horus was conceived by Isis from the resurrected soul of her husband Osiris and brought up to avenge his father's murder. When he had accomplished this revenge he became King of Egypt. In his honour, every successive king was seen as the embodiment of Horus and was seated on a throne guarded by the falcon's outspread wings. The Nana in this work takes the form of a Horus god with a face of a falcon superimposed on the body of an oversized, comical and vibrant figure.
The work of Niki de Saint Phalle combined a 'Nouveau Réaliste' approach, influenced by the likes of Rauschenberg and Johns, with a rebellion against the stereotypical view of the woman. The Nana series allowed Niki de Saint Phalle to come to terms with and express her longing for power and freedom as a woman. The desire for psychological liberty took the form of large figures decorated in bold colours expressing self-confidence and demanding attention. Niki de Saint Phalle, who first started the Nana series in 1965, continued to be preoccupied with similar concerns in the 1990s. Here we see an example in which the Nana figure is further empowered by combining the large curvaceous womanly features with those of Horus, an Egyptian god. According to the story of Isis and Osiris, Horus was conceived by Isis from the resurrected soul of her husband Osiris and brought up to avenge his father's murder. When he had accomplished this revenge he became King of Egypt. In his honour, every successive king was seen as the embodiment of Horus and was seated on a throne guarded by the falcon's outspread wings. The Nana in this work takes the form of a Horus god with a face of a falcon superimposed on the body of an oversized, comical and vibrant figure.