Montparnasse Cemetery
 

While walking through Montparnasse Cemetery we came upon a grave marker that was a very large sculpture of a bird which appeared to be made of stain glass. There was an engraved message referring to "flying away like a bird" and was signed:"Nikki". I could not find any markings which indicated who was buried there. My curiousity has been piqued. Is anyone familiar with this sculpture and its history?

There is a lady sculptor by that name who died last year. Her famous colorful blown-up looking figures known as "nanas "are well known. There was one in front of the Beaubourg (Pompidou Center) I suspect it could be her grave. I forget her last name..de Falaise? I'll get back to you if I remember. She was a loved artist in France.

Hi Ita,
How intriguing. I found nothing on the Net.

Look forward to the answer.

ok it's Nikki Saint Phalle. a franco-american.

A few years back I studied with an art college in Viterbo, Italy, and one of the trip's highlights was a trip to Niki di Saint Phalle's sculpture garden. Here's the website:

http://www.nikidesaintphalle.com/entrance.html

I also thought of Nikki de Saint Phalle, but does anyone know for sure and what is the story behind it? I also searched the net and found nothing

she worked in so many mediums, it might be part of her last works.That Tarot garen in Tuscany, I know she spent the last years of her life. Tho born in France, a family upheaval brought her to Conn. and she married and lived here in Cambridge, later she had a nervous(1953) breakdown and she remarried to her partner in art Tanguay. She had studied acting, Modelled for Vogue, Elle and other fashion magazines, she studied acting, did costume designs for Roland Petit's Ballet, She was very beautiful and a true renaissance woman.
Her Nanas, sculptures of women made of paper mache and yarn are her most well-known works but she did books, glass and so much more. Her last work for the Montreal expo was when her lungs startd to give in from all the toxins from the polyester and other stuff she worked in. She was close to everyone of notein the arts like Arman, César, from Andrea putnam, Larry Rivers, Yves Klein
Those toxic fumes did her in in 2002.

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Nikki de Saint Phalle was married to Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. One of their works is the famous Stravinsky Fountain in Paris next the Pompidou Center.

There is also a huge, marvellous blue Nana in the hall of Zurich's train station (hanging from the ceiling.); BTW, a famous meeting point.

Thanks Ursela for correcting my spelling of her second husband. Tingeuly.

I am still hoping someone can answer my question.

well, I'll be there next month so will try to take a look. I am just guessing, but kind of doubt it is the artist mentioned above because her name wasn't spelled "nikki" and she wasn't a Parisian resident--I think she lived in the US for quite a while and that was her residence upon death.

so, where exactly was this sculpture roughly in the cemetery? near bd Edgar Quinet (where Sartre's and de Beauvoir's graves are), near the center or the southern edge or what?

I may have been wrong about the spelling of her name. I am not sure where it was located. We had very little time there so wandered kind of blind except for seeing Brancusi's Kiss.

Well, if the Nikki you are discussing "died last year" this is not the same person because the Bird was there in July 2001. Some of the newer monuments are definitely not "old school." There is also a cat that is unique. It was my impression (for no real reason) that the message was from Nikki whoever she was. I don't think there was any information on the cemetery map, but I can check at home.

I just returned from Paris,and was intrigued by that sculpture pool by Pompidou. Now I know something about it's history. Thanks.

Nikki de Saint phalle has had her name in print as Niki. She was born in Neuilly-sur Seine and died in California at age 71. Her work is described as Nouveau Realiste rather than true pop. Influenced by Rauschenberg and Johns. But she said once she was fundimentky infuenced by Gaudi's Sagrada Family buildings. She married Tinguely in Paris outside of the pompidou center and together they created the fountain dedicated to Stravinsky that still remains there.

Okay , I just saw that the other day. I'm not even sure it's a grave, actually. It isn't stained glass, it's a big bird made out of mirrors, for the most part, kind of like those old disco balls (there are a few minor parts in colored glass). It appears to be someone named Jean-Jacques who died, although no last name is given. The writing with Niki or Nikki on it appears to be a dedication from the person who erected that bird in memoriam to Jean-Jacques (who is the one flying away like a bird or something). There is no name on it or dates and it isn't clear it's a grave to me, but I kind of doubt they'd allocate that much space to someone in such a small cemetery just to erect a piece of art like that. I don't know, but I don't think it's anyone important.

Niki de Saint Phalle also had a perfume named for her.

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ita, to answer your question at the top of the page: Yes, the large sculpture of a bird in Montparnasse cemetery is by Niki de Saint-Phalle (it is not her grave). It's even mentioned briefly in this article: http://www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.c...e-cemetery.htm

There is a great write-up on Niki on these sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_de_Saint_Phalle
http://www.fembio.org/women-from/han...t-phalle.shtml

Additionally, I just saw an amazing documentary on TV about her life called "Tarot de Niki". It gives a lot of insight into the thinking behind the creation of the famous "Jardin des tarots". According to a writeup I found "after visiting the Gaudi's Parc Güell in Barcelona, and the garden in Bomarzo, she wanted to make something similar, a monumental sculpture park created by a woman. In 1979, she acquired some land in Garavicchio, Tuscany, about 100 km north-west from Rome along the coast. The garden, called Giardino dei Tarocchi in Italian, contains sculptures of the symbols found on Tarot cards. The garden took many years, and a lot of money, to complete. It opened in 1998, after more than 20 years of work.