Adam and Eve
By Niki de Saint Phalle
Category: Sculpture
About
Her “nana” sculptures explore the various roles of women and celebrate the bodies of females and children. The sculpture Adam and Eve is a prime example of this sculptural style, painted with decorative patterns and referencing the biblical story of humanity’s first parents in a playful, almost childlike manner. Originally part of the Fontaine Stravinsky, a public fountain with sixteen of Saint Phalle’s and Tinguely’s sculptures located next to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Adam and Eve now sits in the Citygarden in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. As a consequence of years of inhaling toxic polyester fumes while working on her sculptures, Saint Phalle died in her California home on May 21, 2002.
Dimensions: 78″ x 64″ x 54″
Year Completed: 1989
Material: Painted polyester and fiberglass
Owner: Gateway Foundation
About the artist:
Niki de Saint Phalle
Artist Bio: 1930-2002
Niki de Saint Phalle was a French sculptor, painter, and illustrator who was best known for her playful sculptures of brightly painted female figures called “nanas” or “babes.” Born near Paris in 1930, Niki de Saint Phalle traveled and worked around the world, joining the New Realist art movement in Europe and becoming its only female member. There she met fellow artist Jean Tinguely in 1960, whom she later married after ending her first marriage to American Harry Matthews. In 1979 Saint Phalle began work on her biggest project, a monumental sculpture park called The Tarot Garden. Located in Tuscany, Italy, the garden contains oversized “nana” sculptures of the symbols found on Tarot cards. Each sculpture was created in Saint Phalle’s signature style, with rounded limbs and voluptuously curved bodies painted in bright colors.
