NEW LIFE IN LA JOLLA

In the early 1990s, despondent after the death of Jean Tinguely, her second husband and artistic collaborator, and wracked by poor health, Saint Phalle moved from New York to San Diego. She called it her “resurrection.”

"California has been a rebirth for my soul and an earthquake for my eyes," she said. "The sea, desert, mountains, wide-open sky, the brilliance of it and the vastness of space. I have embraced another way of life and have let my discovery of this land manifest itself in my work."

Tapping into La Jolla’s supportive art community, Saint Phalle learned new techniques of handling saturated color and shimmering reflection to capture the essence of her new home. Her subject matter became more lighthearted, leaning towards sports figures and animals, although she still created political work on topics of gun control, women’s rights, AIDS awareness and global warming.

In 2000, she began work on Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, which would be her only sculpture garden in America. It’s located in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park, approximately 45 minutes from downtown San Diego, and surrounded by 12 acres of parkland. 

FINDING NIKI AROUND TOWN

If your schedule doesn’t allow a trip to Escondido, there are other places to see Saint Phalle’s work. Her towering “Sun God” is a revered landmark on the UC San Diego campus, appearing on shirts and mugs, and honored each spring with a festival. It was the first piece commissioned by the Stuart Collection and her first outdoor commission in America. To this day, Saint Phalle is one of a small group of female artists known for creating art on a monumental scale.

Three sculptures are located at Waterfront Park, the family-friendly open air plaza along the North Embarcadero in downtown San Diego. 

Southeast of the San Diego Convention Center you’ll find “Coming Together,” from her limited series called “The Skinnies.” Saint Phalle intended this sculpture to integrate diverse elements of the city’s identity. She wrote, “The windows in the head allow us to see nature and the sea; representing an awareness of our surroundings. The mirrors will give, like the wheel of life, a sense of perpetual movement. Each time of day will (be) reflected in the mirrors. The sunset, the sunrise.”

Perhaps the most intimate place to get to know Saint Phalle’s life and work is at Barbarella Restaurant in La Jolla. Owned by Barbara Beltaire, a dear friend of the artist for more than two decades, Saint Phalle’s distinctive style is seen in the graphic design, pizza oven, and a vase filled with gladiolas above the open-air bar. Beltaire jokes that Saint Phalle wanted to cover everything in mosaic and, “if Niki had had her way, my whole restaurant would have been Niki.”

Each year, to mark the artist’s birthday, Beltaire brings in pieces from her personal collection. Beltaire has many stories about her “unofficial godmother,” describing how much pleasure Saint Phalle derived from watching children climb over the “Nikigator,” and how she finally achieved happiness in the last phase of her life.

“She was really celebrating her art, her generosity to the community,” says Beltaire. “She was full of life, very passionate at every level. Not just her art but her kindness to people, and her interests. She loved life.”