As part of the sale of the Thursday 12 March 2020, PIASA Editions Department is proud to present a selection of engraved works by the most emblematic artists of the second half of the 20th century, from the pioneers of Modern Art to Contemporary Art.
A major figure on the art scene from the early 1960s onwards, the artist, whose real name was Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint-Phalle, began her career as a model. She made the front page of major fashion magazines including Vogue, Life and Elle. She spent her childhood in New York before a violent nervous breakdown led her to a psychiatric hospital. Like a number of artists close to Art Brut, it was in this context that she took up painting for the first time.
During the 1960s, Niki de Saint Phalle explored the age-old iconography of women by making monumental dolls entitled "the Nanas". Stigmata of the feminist dimension of her work, these sculptures were widely commented on by the press at the time. The artist was also the author of performances during which she fired her rifle at pockets of paint to splash colours onto the assemblage-paintings.
At this time, Niki de Saint Phalle joined the circle of the Nouveaux Réalistes. She took part in the exhibition organized by Pierre Restany "À 40 degrés au-dessus de Dada" at the J Gallery, directed by Jeannine de Goldschmidt.
Inspired by the formal vocabulary inherited from prehistory, the anatomy of the women represented by the artist highlights the curvature of the breasts and hips as on this piece made in 2000 and published in only 150 copies. It is estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000 euros.
Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) Lady with a handbag (vase)
Estimation : 20 000 / 30 000 €
Although his works are now held in the collections of the world's most important museums, they also attract engraving enthusiasts, as evidenced by the very fine bidding reached in November 2017 by a greeting card "Untitled (Dear Frédéric)", which sold for 5,850 euros, double its high estimate of 3,000 euros.
