Niki de Saint-Phalle

Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris
Acquired directly from the above by Alexander Orlow for the Peter Stuyvesant Collection in 1967

Paris, Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Niki de Saint Phalle, 1965
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Les Nanas au Pouvoir, 1967, no. 2
Maastricht, Stichting Cultureel Centrum in Dominicanenkerk, Het Museum in de Fabriek, Peter Stuyvesant Collectie, 1968
Frankfurt, Kunstverein, Figuren Gestalten Personen, 1969-1970, no. 2
The Hague, Pulchri Studio, Peter Stuyvesant Collectie, 1972
Eindhoven, Bijenkorf (& travellling), Kunst over de Drempel, 1985
Paris, Institut Néerlandais, l'Art dans l'Usine, 38 artistes de la Collection Peter Stuyvesant, 1986, pp. 60-61, illustrated in colour
Amsterdam, Beurs van Berlage, Kunstzaken, 1988-1989
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Art Works: International Modern Art in the Industrial Working Environment, an Experiment over more than Thirty Years: Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, 1991-1992, pp. 59, 147, illustrated in colour
Barcelona, Fondación Miró; Zaragoza, Palacio de la Lonja; Valencia, Museo de la Ciudad, El Arte Funciona, 1992
Paris, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, l'Art Actif, 1992
Bonn, Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland; Glasgow, McLellan Galleries; Paris, Musee d'Art Moderne, Niki de Saint Phalle, 1992-1993, p. 57, illustrated
Brussels, Bank Brussels Lambert, Art at Work, 1996

Harry Abrams, Hans Jaffé, et al., Adventure in Art, An International Group of Art Collections in Industrial Environments, Milan & Amsterdam 1970, pp. 109-110, illustrated

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the overall tonality is softer in the original with the hues of red tending more towards a pale pink. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is superficial dust adhering to the surface. There is wear to the figure's knees and some specks of paint losses in places throughout. There is a small indentation beneath the figure's neck and a further small indentation to the yellow heart on the figure's belly. There are two holes to the centre of the figure's back from which it is suspended. All surface irregularities are inherent to the artist's choice of medium. When examined under ultraviolet light several professional retouches throughout are apparent, mainly notable in the black lines and on the knees of the figure.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Conceived by Niki de Saint Phalle as the crowning centrepiece for her pivotal exhibition at Alexander Iolas' Paris gallery in 1965, Lili ou Tony was amongst the first monumental 'Nana' sculptures that the artist created. At over two metres tall, every inch of its brightly coloured, voluptuous patchwork body emanates a mood of pure optimism and joyous celebration – announcing to the world the very spirit that was to inform Niki's lifelong creative adventure from this point onwards, and inspire its bountiful evolution into a complete range of fanciful figures, animals, plants, monsters and surrealistic environments. 

 

The 'Nanas' signalled a marked change in Niki's creative direction and were the series upon which she gained widespread international recognition as one of the most unique and innovative artistic voices of her generation. Blissful and hopeful to the very core of their existence, the 'Nanas' dancing curves were diametrically opposed to the suppressed rage and objective distance of Niki's preceding series of 'shooting paintings' –works which she created through performances of violent artistic destruction by shooting at found object assemblages with a pistol, rifle or cannon producing a spontaneous dispersion of colours from the paint packages embedded in their white plaster surfaces. Equally radical in their conception and appearance, the 'Nanas' by contrast were an unfettered celebration of her untrained individual creativity and craft; each one lovingly hand-crafted from papier-maché, wool and mesh and covered with a patchwork quilt of materials and brightly painted decoration.  

Already a mother of two children by her first husband Harry Matthews, Niki recalled how the 'Nana' sculptures had been inspired by the pregnancy of her dear friend, Clarisse Rivers, the wife of American artist Larry Rivers. She subsequently began to explore through her art the blossoming changes she perceived in her friend by creating an archetypal, heroic female figure – a body through which she could herself celebrate and explore with confidence and power the unique life-giving gift of women which she called her 'Nanas' or 'Everywoman'. The name 'Nana' was a synonym or variation of the ancient mother goddess of Egypt and the Orient, Inanna, who was the virgin goddess and the ancestral mother goddess of all other deities as well as the earth itself. She was all deities and the sole goddess simultaneously, sometimes unexpectedly appearing as a virgin consecrated to a deity whilst at others as a prostitute. Niki's 'Nanas' similarly sought to incorporate and embrace all the various attributes and existential variations of women.

Highly theatrical in appearance and pose, the bulbous, maternal figures of the Nanas were comparable to Mexican piñatas that literally dwarf their surrounding with their larger than life size, as well as with their vibrant and saturated colours. The present work is a magnificent combination of multiple female identities, a woman who is physically dominant yet ironically coquettish, large yet incredibly feminine. Rather than an objectified woman, Lili ou Tony is a humorous and honest celebration of feminism's efforts to reconsider the woman's body. French critic Pierre Descargues described these revolutionary female figures in his catalogue essay that accompanied the 1965 Alexander Iolas exhibition as "...a bride, a Venus with fat behind – a goddess from the kingdom of psychoanalysis..." Avant-guardist yet incredibly populist, the 'Nanas' gave birth to a whole new fantastic world of endless possibilities in Post War figurative art.