The documentary film by Louise Faure and Anne Julien, “Niki de Saint Phalle & Jean Tinguely: Les Bonnie & Clyde de l’Art,” is coming out on DVD — and to celebrate, there will be a launch event in Paris on Thursday 13 December at Galerie Hubert Karaly (23 rue Lucien Sampaix, 75010 Paris). The evening begins at 7:30pm. “Les Bonnie & Clyde de l’Art” won the Prix du Meilleur Film TV FIFA 2011.
Art collectors Eric and Jean Cass “have been supporters of Niki de Saint Phalle ever since they bought their first work from a gallery in Ostend in 1976,” says the Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow (GoMA), and the esteemed collectors’ recent donation of more than 300 important modern and contemporary artworks to the Contemporary Art Society “for allocation to public institutions and to support contemporary art in the UK” included many of Niki’s works. In 2012, the Contemporary Art Society put that gift’s intention into action by inviting seven UK-based museums to research the donation and pitch for “clusters of works that complement or enliven their current collections.”
In that context, the Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow received 14 major works by Niki de Saint Phalle, as well as a number of collectable ephemera, drawings and personal letters. Now those works are slated for exhibition at GoMA, beginning on 16 November 2012.
“We are incredibly excited to have been given these unique and wonderful works by Niki de Saint Phalle,” says Ben Harman, Curator of Contemporary Art for Glasgow Museums. “This act of extraordinary generosity by Eric and Jean Cass will create the largest assembly of the artist’s work at any public collection in the UK.” The “unprecedented gift” will be enjoyed “by generations of local, national, and international visitors to Glasgow,” added Harman. Learn more about the exhibition.
Opening this week at the Tate Modern in London is “A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance”, an innovative group exhibition curated by Catherine Wood. Here’s how the Tate Modern web site describes the show:
“This exhibition will take a new look at the dynamic relationship between performance and painting since 1950. Contrasting key paintings by Jackson Pollock and David Hockney, the exhibition considers two different approaches to the idea of the canvas as an arena in which to act: one gestural, the other one theatrical. The paintings of the Vienna Actionists or the Shooting Pictures of Niki de Saint Phalle will be re-presented within the performance context that they were made, and juxtaposed with works by artists such as Cindy Sherman or Jack Smith that used the face and body as a surface, often using make-up in work dealing with gender role-play. The exhibition proposes a new way of looking at the work of a number of younger artists whose approach to painting is energised by these diverse historical sources, drawing upon action painting, drag and the idea of the stage set.”
“A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance” runs from 14 November 2012 through 1 April 2013. For more information, you can visit the Tate Modern web site or contact the museum directly.
From The Art Newspaper:
“The collectors Eric and Jean Cass have donated more than 300 works of modern and contemporary art, valued at £4m, to the Contemporary Art Society to be allocated to seven UK institutions outside London.
“The Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, the Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery, the National Museum Cardiff, Edinburgh’s Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, the Wolverhampton Art Gallery and the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton, will each receive clusters of works tailored to complement their own collections. […] Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art will receive a sizeable number of works by Niki de Saint Phalle, which will go on display from 15 November until October 2013.” Learn more.
“Meet Jean Tinguely, who might be an artist, an inventor or a philosopher … depending on how you look at his masterpieces.” (Universal Newsreel, 1960)
Joan Blanche of AQNB shares her experience of Méta-Reliefs / Méta-Matics (1955-1961), a remarkable collection of work by Jean Tinguely now at Galerie Vallois in Paris:
“Yes, Jean Tinguely does have a wonderful name when pronounced à l’anglaise. But it’s not just his name that’s currently tickling the fancy of Nouveau Réalisme art fans. Eleven of his pieces, some of which have never been exhibited before, are being shown at the Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois Gallery in the artists’ quarter of Saint Germain des Près in Paris. Were Tinguely still with us (he passed away over twenty years ago) he would surely have appreciated the location, only a few steps away from the Arnaud Lefebvre Gallery, the host of his very first solo exhibition.
“The collection, divided into ‘Méta-Reliefs’ and ‘Méta-Matics,’ was created between 1955 and 1961. Here, we can clearly see the fascination with movement, space and fantasy that made Tinguely such an important member of the avant-garde arts scene in the mid-twentieth century.” (Image via Galerie Vallois: Le Frigo (open) – 1960 © André Morin)
Jean Tinguely’s Méta-Reliefs / Méta-Matics (1955-1961) is on exhibit at Galerie Vallois in Paris until 17 November. To learn more about the show, see the Galerie Vallois press release (in French) or watch the ouvretesyeux video (also in French) below.
The Desire for Freedom: Art in Europe since 1945, which opened at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin on 17 October, shows post-war work by 113 European artists who have been concerned with the theme of freedom. Rather than examining this question in terms of the Cold War power blocs, it seeks their common roots in democracy and socialism, as offspring of the Enlightenment that must answer to its core values: freedom, equality, and human rights.
In this provocative and ambitious exhibition, such artists as Fernand Léger, Damien Hirst, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Armando, Tadeusz Kantor, Richard Hamilton, Boris Mikhailov, Oskar Rabin, Niki de Saint Phalle, Gerhard Richter, Aurora Reinhard, Christo, Arman, Mario Merz, Jordi Colomer, Raul Meel, Maria Lassnig, Eric Bulatov and Carlfriedrich Claus provoke us to think about freedom and the way we live our lives.
The exhibition, which was curated by Monika Flacke, Henry Meyric Hughes, and Ulrike Schmiegelt, runs from 17 October 2012 to 10 February 2013 at the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) in Berlin. Learn more.
Art Daily writes about the new exhibition now at Nohra Haime Gallery in New York City:
“Selected historical sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle are on view at the Nohra Haime Gallery from August 2 through August 29, 2012. The exhibition includes Dawn, one of her signature and richly colored Nanas, along with her mystical figures, Double Tête and Horus et Sa Grace. Two examples of Saint Phalle’s furniture, such as Clarice Chaise Femme and Charly, also are featured. Providing a distinct and more intimate look into the artist’s ambitious and inventive work, this exhibition runs in conjunction with Niki de Saint Phalle on Park Avenue, a major site-specific installation including nine monumental sculptures standing along Park Avenue from 52nd to 60th Streets.” Read more.
Pictured: Niki de Saint Phalle’s Horus et sa grace at Nohra Haime Gallery in New York City. Photo by Laura Maloney.
Kelsey Savage Hays in Auction Central News International on the public installation of sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle on Park Avenue in New York City:
“Marking the 10-year anniversary of Niki de Saint Phalle’s death, an installation of her curvy, joyful women dance along Park Avenue. The sculptures, created out of polyester resin, some with mosaics of ceramic and glass, memorialize the achievement of the French artist whose work incorporates a joie de vivre as big as a New York summer. The vibrant women meld perfectly with all the color surrounding them on the iconic avenue — vibrant sundresses, the perfect summer blue sky, men’s rainbow ties.
“Les Baigneurs starts the exhibition, which runs down from 60th Street and encompasses nine pieces including works from her tribute to jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, and her Grand Step Totem.” Read more.
Pictured above: Niki de Saint Phalle’s Les Baigneurs (The Bathers) on Park Avenue in New York City. Photo by Kelsey Savage.
An online catalogue raisonné of the “Nanas” of Niki de Saint Phalle is scheduled for publication in October 2014.
Niki de Saint Phalle created a large number of Nanas in the course of her career, made using various materials and with diverse shapes and dimensions. The catalogue raisonné will document this aspect of Niki de Saint Phalle’s oeuvre and illustrate the range of her creative achievements in this area.
The catalogue raisonné of Niki de Saint Phalle’s Nanas aims to be a comprehensive publication that will reproduce and list all known works of this kind. It will establish as definitive an inventory as possible of Niki de Saint Phalle’s authenticated Nanas.
We would be very grateful for any information we might receive from private and public collectors who wish to propose Nanas for inclusion in the catalogue raisonné. Please complete the online form or contact us by email at nanacatalogue@gmail.com. While we hope you will be able to supply as many details as possible to enhance the accuracy of our research, we understand that some information may be sensitive, personal, or private. Please be assured that all information provided will be treated in the strictest confidentiality. All requests for anonymity will be fully respected.
We thank you in advance for your time and your support for this project.
Nohra Haime Gallery will present Niki de Saint Phalle on Park Avenue from 12 July – 15 November 2012. This major public exhibit — which will be on display on Park Avenue between 52nd and 60th Streets in New York City — will include nine monumental sculptures and feature Saint Phalle’s signature nanas and totems, as well as works from her iconic Black Heroes Series depicting legendary jazz musicians and athletes. Learn more.