From Her, For Her

Luxury swiss skincare house La Prairie honours the enduring feminist spirit of french-american artist Niki De Saint Phalle, whose work speaks of a gritty strength and curious nature that well represents the ethos of the progressive, forward-thinking beauty label

- Chelsea Tang

Niki de Saint Phalle may be best known as a FrenchAmerican artist, but more than that, she was a woman well ahead of her time. Being a young woman in the 1950s meant living in a time ruled by patriarchy and gender norms, yet Saint Phalle — despite growing up affluent on New York’s Upper East Side — sought to challenge such conformities. She refused the orthodox respectability of married domestic life, and instead made many statements with her forward-thinking art. Her desire was to make art accessible to public when it was deemed a chi-chi activity for genteel society.

Nothing about womanhood, femininity, and sexuality was off the table or taboo; Saint Phalle put almost everything about her life into her work. It was a radical confessional style of art that put forth women-centred stories and experiences in a time when there really weren’t that many out there.

Relatable, audacious, intriguing… these were just some of the words used to describe Saint Phalle and her work. The 200-over piece Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures For Life exhibition at the MoMA PS1 in New York hosted by luxury Swiss skincare house La Prairie tells us something about the relationship between the artist and the brand. “This collaboration is a meaningful opportunity for us to share Niki’s philosophy with the world, and [link] her spirit — pioneering, perseverant, strong, feminist — to La Prairie,” says Greg Prodromides, chief marketing officer. In fact, the cobalt blue that Saint Phalle favours in her art was the inspiration behind La Prairie’s iconic Skin Caviar collection — a tie that sealed the connection between both parties.