A beautiful and celebratory book on the works of Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002), this expanded and updated edition is made distinctly personal by the artist's own handwritten comments and whimsical sketches. When Niki de Saint Phalle died, the world lost not only an artist of enormous passion, but also a remarkably creative woman whose work and life were inextricably linked. Throughout her forty-year career Saint Phalle explored female roles in society and myth, basing many of her disquieting and joyful depictions on personal experience. The full range of Saint Phalle s oeuvre is paid glorious tribute in this retrospective volume, which also features new images and an extended biography. Chronologically arranged, this updated book takes readers from the visceral and controversial shooting paintings and her playfully voluptuous nanas to the impressive installations and wonderfully elaborate sculpture gardens such as the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, the Sun God in San Diego and the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris. In addition to nearly a hundred color and black and white photographs of Saint Phalle s work, the artist s own comments and sketches are interspersed throughout the book, providing an integral framework for understanding and appreciating her unusual talent.