While Quebec City celebrates the joie de vivre of Niki de Saint Phalle's last years, the Centre Pompidou takes over the Grand Palais with its large goddesses and fountains designed with Jean Tinguely and Pontus Hultén, while the Centre d'art de Caumont launches its draconic cries in Aix. Come back, Niki, come back.

Very early on, I decided to become a heroine," recalls Niki de Saint Phalle. The important thing was that it was hard, big and exciting. From her monster childhood, between an incestuous father, a domineering mother and a suicidal sister, the artist would extract a psychoanalysis of fairy tales à la Bruno Bettelheim, where stories of princesses battling ogres provided the answer to her devouring anxieties. The tale may be dark, but it will be big, difficult and exciting.

Emmanuel Daydé

Also worth discovering:
Niki de Saint Phalle : le bestiaire magique, Caumont Centre d’art, Aix-en-Provence (avec le soutien de la Niki Charitable Art Foundation), jusqu’au 5 octobre 2025

exhibition's website