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Lot Essay
"I LOVE ROUNDNESS... THE CURVES, THE UNDULATION; I DO NOT LIKE RIGHT-ANGLES, THEY SCARE ME. THE RIGHT-ANGLE IS A KILLER. I LOVE IMPERFECTION. PERFECTION IS COLD. IMPERFECTION GIVES LIFE. I LOVE LIFE." (NIKI DE SAINT-PHALLE QUOTED IN EX. CAT, CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, PARIS NIKI DE SAINT-PHALLE 1980, P. 48)
IN LES BAIGNEUSES, DE SAINT-PHALLE DEPICTS A COUPLE OF CAREFREE BATHERS IN THE JOYOUS AND WHIMSICAL STYLE OF THE NANA SERIES THAT SHE FIRST DEVELOPED IN 1965. CAST IN POLYESTER AND STANDING ATOP A PARADOXICALLY SOLID BLUE WAVE, THESE TWO OUTSIZED FIGURES COMICALLY EXPRESS THROUGH THEIR POSE, COLOUR AND OUTLINE ALL THE JOIE DE VIVRE TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SEASIDE.
THE THEME OF LES BAIGNEUSES IS PART OF A CLASSICAL TRADITION WITHIN MODERNISM THAT DATES BACK TO THE WORK OF CéZANNE. DE SAINT-PHALLE'S BATHERS ARE A FUN-FILLED SUBVERSION OF THE SERIOUSNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TRADITION. THE HUGE MOTHER-GODDESS-TYPE WOMAN OR NANA, WITH HER ENORMOUS FIGURE AND FLOWER AND HEART BREASTS, IS SHOWN IN THIS SCULPTURE GAILY SKIPPING INTO THE AIR. HER POSE SUGGESTS A LIGHTNESS THAT HUMOROUSLY DEFIES HER EXAGGERATED SIZE. THE MALE FIGURE, WITH HIS SHARP, ANGULAR SWIMMING TRUNKS, IS A DELIBERATELY CONTRASTING COUNTERPART WHOSE BODY IS ENTIRELY CONCENTRATED IN THE ACTION OF THROWING A RED BALL. THIS SCENE IS COMPLETED BY A LARGE CARTOON-LIKE SPIDER CRAWLING PRECARIOUSLY ACROSS THE SOLID BASE OF THE SCULPTURE. THE SPIDER IS ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE COSMIC DISTORTION OF SCALE AT WORK WITHIN THIS PLAYFUL SCULPTURE.
IN LES BAIGNEUSES, DE SAINT-PHALLE DEPICTS A COUPLE OF CAREFREE BATHERS IN THE JOYOUS AND WHIMSICAL STYLE OF THE NANA SERIES THAT SHE FIRST DEVELOPED IN 1965. CAST IN POLYESTER AND STANDING ATOP A PARADOXICALLY SOLID BLUE WAVE, THESE TWO OUTSIZED FIGURES COMICALLY EXPRESS THROUGH THEIR POSE, COLOUR AND OUTLINE ALL THE JOIE DE VIVRE TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SEASIDE.
THE THEME OF LES BAIGNEUSES IS PART OF A CLASSICAL TRADITION WITHIN MODERNISM THAT DATES BACK TO THE WORK OF CéZANNE. DE SAINT-PHALLE'S BATHERS ARE A FUN-FILLED SUBVERSION OF THE SERIOUSNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TRADITION. THE HUGE MOTHER-GODDESS-TYPE WOMAN OR NANA, WITH HER ENORMOUS FIGURE AND FLOWER AND HEART BREASTS, IS SHOWN IN THIS SCULPTURE GAILY SKIPPING INTO THE AIR. HER POSE SUGGESTS A LIGHTNESS THAT HUMOROUSLY DEFIES HER EXAGGERATED SIZE. THE MALE FIGURE, WITH HIS SHARP, ANGULAR SWIMMING TRUNKS, IS A DELIBERATELY CONTRASTING COUNTERPART WHOSE BODY IS ENTIRELY CONCENTRATED IN THE ACTION OF THROWING A RED BALL. THIS SCENE IS COMPLETED BY A LARGE CARTOON-LIKE SPIDER CRAWLING PRECARIOUSLY ACROSS THE SOLID BASE OF THE SCULPTURE. THE SPIDER IS ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE COSMIC DISTORTION OF SCALE AT WORK WITHIN THIS PLAYFUL SCULPTURE.