Niki de st phalle biography of alberta photos

Her father is French, her mother American. She is the second of five children of a wealthy family who lose their business and fortune in the stock market collapse. She spends most of her childhood and adolescence in New York City, though strong ties are maintained with the family in France through frequent visits. She transfers to a new school shortly thereafter.

At 18, she elopes with childhood friend Harry Mathews. In , Niki begins making her first paintings while her husband studies music at Harvard University. Laura, their first child, is born in Boston in In , Niki moves to Paris to study theater and acting while Harry studies music.

Niki de st phalle biography of alberta photos: A new documentary about the

They summer in the south of France, Spain, and Italy, visiting museums and cathedrals. In , hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, Niki finds that painting helps her to overcome this crisis and decides to give up acting and become an artist. After her recovery, Niki and Harry briefly return to Paris, where she is encouraged by other artists to continue painting in her unique self-taught style.