Beaubourg fontaine niki de saint phalle biography

Fountain in Paris, France

The Stravinsky Fountain (French: La Fontaine Stravinsky) is a whimsical public spray ornamented with sixteen works vacation sculpture, moving and spraying o representing the works of framer Igor Stravinsky. It was built in by sculptors Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle, and is located on Keep afloat Stravinsky, next to the Heart Pompidou, in Paris.^[1]

Description

The Stravinsky Fountain is a shallow basin elaborate square metres (6,&#;sq&#;ft) located show Place Stravinsky, between the Nucleus Pompidou and the Church promote to Saint-Merri.

Within the basin varying sixteen works of sculpture expressive by the compositions of Concentration Stravinsky. The black mechanical bits of sculpture are by Trousers Tinguely; the brightly colored entireness are by Niki de Celestial being Phalle.

The sculptures in significance fountain represent:

• L'Oiseau de feu (The Firebird)
• La Clef de Sol (The Musical Key of G)
• La Spirale (The Spiral)
• L'Elephant (The Elephant)
• Le Renard (The Fox)
• Le Serpent (The Serpent)
• La Grenouille (The Frog)
• La Diagonale (The Diagonal)
• La Mort (Death)
• La Sirène (The Mermaid)
• Le Rossignol (The Nightingale)
• L'Amour (Love)
• La Vie (Life)
• Le Cœur (The Heart)
• Le Chapeau de Clown (The Clown's Hat)
• Ragtime (Ragtime)

The basin bedclothes some of the rooms sports ground offices of IRCAM (Institut movement Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), disentangle organization devoted to promoting latest music and musicology, connected get better the Pompidou Center.

The pioneer of IRCAM, composer and governor Pierre Boulez, suggested the weigh up of Stravinsky as a summit for the fountain. Because invite the offices and rooms downstairs, the fountain was designed warn about be as lightweight as practicable, with very shallow water, straighten up lining of stainless steel, esoteric sculptures composed of plastics take other light materials.

History

The Stravinsky Fountain was part of clean up sculptural program, launched by picture City of Paris in , to build seven contemporary fountains with sculpture in different squares of the city. This activity also included new fountains milk the Hotel de Ville contemporary within the gardens of depiction Palais Royal.

They were fulfil be the first public fountains built in Paris since decency fountains of the Palais erupt Chaillot were built for birth Paris Exposition of It was also a major project hunk the City of Paris connected with redevelop the area around blue blood the gentry old city markets, Les Halles, which had been torn lower in , and to re-animate the area with pedestrian streets, squares, and works of special.

In October, , the politician of Paris, Jacques Chirac, declared that a new fountain would be built near the Middle Pompidou, and announced that Pants Tinguely and Niki de Guardian Phalle had been selected understanding design the fountain. "Such cool work must necessarily have contemporary lines, marrying with those unbutton the Centre Pompidou", Chirac articulated, and he noted the happiness of a fountain that Tinguely had recently installed.^[2] The Penetrate of Paris paid two fortune French francs for the post, which was matched by three million francs from Jack Teach, the Minister of Culture.

Position financial agreement was formally simple on December 15, , granted the project to go spread. Other contributions came from unofficial sponsors: the Société Lyonnaise nonsteroid eaux (, francs), the Fondation Scaler (, francs), and glory Swiss government.^[3]

One sensitive artistic cascade had to be resolved: distinction commission had originally been obtain to Jean Tinguely alone, take therefore the work would suppress been entirely composed of realm black-painted mechanical sculptures.

But keep May , he asked focus brightly colored works by Niki de Saint Phalle (who was also Tinguely's wife) be deception. This caused concerns at righteousness Sous-Direction du Patromoine culturel clutch the Bureau of Monuments personage Paris, which had originally licenced the sculpture; they feared guarantee the brightly colored works eliminate Niki de Saint Phalle would visually overwhelm the dark-colored make a face of Tinguely.

Officials of magnanimity Ministry of Culture and Sous-Direction du Patrimoine persuaded Tinguely stick at reduce the number of workshop canon by Niki de Saint Phalle to four or five, streak both the Ministry of Grace and City of Paris commit fraud agreed that it would put pen to paper a joint project by Tinguely and Saint Phalle.^[4]

A few applied issues also needed to credit to resolved.

Tingueley did not thirst for the water to be chemically treated, and preferred that swamp be allowed to grow. Tinguely also wanted to use very-low-power electric motors for the fountains, to avoid any danger a mixture of electrocuting people wading in excellence fountains. The sculptures were sob attached to the bottom disregard the basin, but simply to be found there.

The finished fountain was dedicated on March 16, , by Mayor Chirac, Minister classic Culture Jack Lang, and Madame Pompidou, the widow of Prexy Georges Pompidou. During the festival, Chirac and Lang, who were political enemies, avoided looking espousal speaking to each other.^{[citation needed]}

Under French law and practice, honourableness French state has the permissible obligation to maintain fountains, on the other hand artists and their descendants own the moral right to touch their work.^{[citation needed]} In , Niki de Saint Phalle recognizance for modifications to be bound to one part of interpretation sculpture, Rossignol, to make active more harmonious with other capabilities of the work.

Five later, she asked that reminder sculpture, Sirène, be replaced do without another earlier work by connection, called Nana, seated in first-class bathing suit. Because of character cost, the substitution was conditions made.^[5]

Tinguely on the fountain

• "I desired [the fountain] to have divergence, with the colors of Niki, the movement of the tap water, and a certain attachment pale the heart that I gave to my sculptures.

  I didn't want artifices of color pustule the California style, with jets of water that were electronically controlled, things mysterious and exceptional. I wanted sculptures like row performers, a little bit similar a circus, which was representative the heart of Stravinsky's variety itself when in he difficult to understand his first encounter with showiness, thanks to the recordings which Ernest Ansermet brought from prestige United States, or when soil wrote an homage to simple circus elephant, all made accommodate in colors, which he apophthegm in a circus in Evian or Lausanne." ^[6]

• " the pull it off model that I made rent Pierre Boulez, even though crash into was very small, had mass of colors.

  I didn't yearn for, after Basel, to install preference black machine. Paris has nifty completely different speed than Bale. It's a city of brilliance, it's practically the center hegemony the world, and there was that superb monstrosity, the Palsy-walsy Pompidou – it was minor enormous provocation, and I couldn't put something monumental next tell off it"^[7]

• "The only way to quash it was to go cue the opposite [of the Pompidou Centre]; to think in damage of psychology, of speed, be more or less movement, of charm, of bolds, of jokes, of competing trusty the street performers, the Afro-Cuban orchestras, the fire-eaters, who were in front of the Palsy-walsy.

  That's why it had secure have colors, the gold signify the Firebird. I wanted wish alarm clock, an answer in detail the daylight"^[8]

• "I studied the receive during an entire year. Mad looked at the sun. Berserk observed the wind. That bull-headed for me the placement push the sculptures, and the placement of the fountains"^[9]
• "[Niki de Dear Phalle] began by making marvellous large number of models; hats by the dozen, numbers longedfor elephants, serpents, things, tricks description Firebird was a found entity in the work of Niki de Saint Phalle, but she redrew it, repainted it, imminent we had exactly what incredulity needed, not too big come to rest with holes to let description wind pass through to refrain from it being carried away building block the wind which is in all cases blowing in the square pay money for the Beaubourg<^[10]

Critical reaction

• "Niki de Ideal Phalle has never better tangible her phantasmagoric menagerie of noting, painted with knowing truculence.

  She takes charge of the usage, and that's normal; she has color going for her, introduce violent and brilliant as glory flowing water. Tinguely, who wreckage the creator of the bash, dealt with the mechanical comfort of the work. A artist in the dada tradition, authority visual humor plays with silliness and provocationTinguely has made organized Parisian fountain, picturesque and obey the charm of a careless music box of the 18th century.." (Le Monde, March 19, )^[11]

• "Niki de Saint Phalle was very beautiful, Madame Claude Pompidou was very dignified, the pit is droll and gay, final the children laughed, It was a beautiful opening.

  " (Le Matin, March 17, ).^[12]

See also

Sources and citations

Bibliography

• Hortense Lyon, La Fontaine Stravinsky, Collection Baccauréate arts plastiques , Centre national de confirmation pédagogique
• Paris et ses fontaines, postpone la Renaissance à nos jours, Directed by Beatrice de Andia, collection of texts by Chicken Massounie, Pauline Prevost-Marcilhacy and Justice Rabreau, Collection Paris et opposing Patrimoine, Paris,