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Biography:
Niki de Saint Phalle was born in France in 1930, and raised in New York. She began painting in 1948 and moved to Europe four years later. She first came to international prominence in 1961 as part of the influential "New Realists," a group that also included Christo, Yves Klein and Jean Tinguely (her frequent collaborator whom she married in 1971). In 1994, Niki moved to La Jolla, California where she lived until her death in May 2002.
Queen Califia's Magical Circle was started in 1999 and completed in 2003. It is Niki de Saint Phalle's only American sculpture garden, and one of only four large-scale sculptural environments by the artist. |