Take, for example, the avant-garde realist sculptor Niki de Saint-Phalle.  Very few know of her work in Paris with Jean Tinguely, yet, we all visit the unusual Pompidou Centre, with its wonderful collection of objets d’art. No, Niki Saint-Phalle is not known for work in the museum but she can be enjoyed next to the museum in the tiny Place Igor Stravinsky, between the Pompidou and the Eglise St-Merry. Here, the city saw fit to underwrite the cost of one of the most whimsical fountains, and the first contemporary one, in Paris. During the warm summer months, thousands of visitors sit near the large pool and watch the modern figures twist, gyrate and Gargantuan figures spin and water seems to dance through the air. Cameras appear as masses of visitors take pictures against the modern background of the Pompidou and the ancient beige architecture of St.-Merri. It has become a landmark in the Beaubourg, an area frequented by the young.

How many times have I stood by this incredibly moving work and been asked by strangers to take their picture? It is a souvenir like no other.

Niki de Saint-Phalle was born in Paris to a family of means in 1930. She was enrolled in a posh New York art school (Brearly) but was expelled because of her irreverence toward established classical art. It was not to her benefit that she splashed red paint on the fig leaves of the art school’s works of art. Niki was set in her ways. She also worked for a time as a fashion model for Vogue, Life, Elle and Harpers. But as far as art goes, traditional art held no truth for this young lady.

After a nervous breakdown at 23, she became associated with the avant-garde “New Realists” in Paris. She began to specialize in huge figures of cartoon-like characters decorated with glass, mirrors and mosaic. She became a heroine of the feminist movement with her gigantic Nana women, the archetypical maternal symbol.

Her theme was different, but I found a Gaudi-like sense of whimsy and use of similar materials. But Gaudi was designing buildings. Only in the decoration of his work do I see major similarities to Saint-Phalle’s work, over 60 years later. The hint of Gaudi in her work is understood because we know that she admired his work. A neighbor of Brancusi, she also followed the trends set by Dali, Pollack and Jasper Johns.

 In the late 70’s, Saint-Phalle and Tinguely began work on a project that would take 20 years to complete. Tinguely, who was Swiss, built the armatures for the sculptures and Niki did the rest. But when the life-long lovers and collaborators parted the suffering showed in the work.

This work is not in France but in the southern tip of Tuscany, just over 100 Km north west of Rome. “The Tarot Gardens” is a collection of 22 huge sculptures based on the Tarot card characters. Some of the figures include The Elephant’s Castle, The Sun, The Dragon and The Tree of Life. The main figure is The Empress, Mother of all Nanas. It is a huge, full-breasted figure whose crotch is a door to the inside of Mother Earth. For a time this was Saint-Phalle’s home.

In 1967, she unveiled her work in Montreal at Expo 67, but not without debate. She also showed in Germany and New York. Her King Kong in LA was quite controversial.

After a lifetime of breathing the toxic fumes of her construction chemicals, she died at age 71, but like the Paris statues, the Tarot Garden remains and is open to the public.

I found it a bargain at 10.50 Euro, but the garden is free on the first Saturday of each month and both seniors and students under 16 are admitted for six euros. Group times can be arranged in the off-season. The town to look for near the coast of Tuscany is called Capalbio.

For more information about this hugely successful French sculptor, go to: www.nikidesaintphalle.com