A 20-year fever dream in Tuscany — meet the woman who built joy out of rage.
The late French American artist Niki de Saint Phalle is remembered today for her Nanas, a highly spirited force of colorful female sculptures. These figures, as with all of Niki’s works, possess an unbridled creativity that hums with the very energy of life. Through unpublished stills and recent footage shot in Europe, America, and Japan, this documentary recalls the life and legacy of the multidisciplinary artist, whose portraits and artworks japanese director Michiko Matsumoto photographed from 1981. It introduces in intimate detail such masterworks as the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy, a vast collection of large-scale works more than 20 years in the making.
Cinematography
Matsumoto's 40-year archive glows with lived-in intimacy.
Production
The Tarot Garden footage is pure architectural delirium.
Director
Michiko Matsumoto
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Matsumoto originally traveled to Paris in 1981 to meet Yves Klein, but he had died three years prior; her consolation prize became a four-decade friendship with Niki.
The Nanas sculptures were directly inspired by Niki's anger at her own pregnant body — she literally sculpted her way from self-loathing to celebration.
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