Franco-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) became internationally famous in the 1960s for her larger-than-life, brightly colored Nana figures. But even before she created these iconic works, which express an alternative, utopian image of female identity, women had been the primary subject of her art. “I wanted the world outside to belong to me, as well, she said. At a very young age I got the message that men had the power, and I wanted it.” Through paintings, assemblages, sculptures, lithographs and drawings, this catalog also takes a look at her lesser-known female figures that depict women tied to their various roles in society: the goddess, the bride, the fertility figure, the mother and the crone. The book also traces the development of de Saint Phalle’s fierce confrontation of the political conflicts of the day.
