The Life and Works of Niki de Saint Phalle
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_de_Saint_Phalle for Niki’s autobiography and a few of her works.
Niki de Saint Phalle was a major 20th Century sculptor who created the very unique Giardini dei Tarocchi (Tarot Garden) a few miles north of Orsini’s Sacred Grove of Bomarzo in Italy. She echoes the whimsy with dark undercurrents as well as the symbolism we found at Bomarzo. She was influenced by both Bomarzo and Park Guell. She went to Barcelona in 1955 and said, “There I saw the beautiful Parc Güell of Gaudi. I met both my master and my destiny. I trembled all over. I knew that I was meant one day to build my own garden of joy – a meeting place between man and nature. Twenty-four years later, I would embark on the biggest adventure of my life, the Tarot Garden.”
See http://www.nikidesaintphalle.com/ for some photos of the Tarot Garden.
Influenced by Gaudí´s Parc Güell in Barcelona, and the garden in Bomarzo, de Saint Phalle decided that 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 of 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 considerable sum of money, to complete. It opened in 1998, after more than 20 years of work.
There is also a video of the sculpture garden on YouTube (turn up your sound…) at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tEcw7Sh-QU
Parc Güell of Gaudi
For background information
and some photos of Gaudi'’s Parc
Güell,
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parc_G%C3%BCell
(Wikipedia description)
And
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediakurva/sets/72157603909448140/ (slide show with details of tiles)