Artist Research

Niki De Saint Phalle

Niki De Saint Phalle was born Catherine Marie Agnès Fald Saint Phalle in 1930. She was a French painter, sculpture, and filmmaker. The family moved to the United States from Paris after being financially wiped out by the Great Depression in 1933.

She began to study at the prestigious Brearley School in New York, but was dismissed after painting red fig leaves on the schools statuary.

At the age of 18, she eloped with author Harry Mathews, who she had known since age 11 through her father. While he studied music at Harvard University, she began to paint, experimenting with different media and styles.

She rejected the conservative values of her family, which dictated domestic positions for wives, and particular rules of conduct. Her artistic pursuits were rejected by her family.

After marriage and the birth of her first chile, she found herself living the very lifestyle she had attempted to reject. The internal conflict and reminiscences of her rape by her father at age 11 caused her to have a mental breakdown. She was urged to continue printing as a form of therapy.

During the 1960's, she left her husband, and while in Paris on a modelling assignment, she was introduced to Hugh Weiss, who became both her friend and mentor. He encouraged her to pint in her self-taught style.