Chris Caccamise Art

Niki de Saint Phalle Brooch (Oiseau), ca. 2005 Zamak, gold tone finished, nickel free (Incised Signature) Incised signature on the back of the jewelry (Niki De Saint Phalle) and the clasp (Niki). 2 3/10 × 1 3/5 inches Authorized by the Estate of Niki de Saint Phalle! This colorful, whimsical piece - "Oiseau" (Bird) can be worn both as a brooch and as a necklace. Bears the Niki de Saint Phalle's incised signature. Collectible work. Makes a terrific gift. Biography of Niki de Saint Phalle Childhood Niki de Saint Phalle was born in France in 1930 to an aristocratic Catholic family. She had an American mother, a French banker father, four siblings, and grew up bilingual in French and English. Her father lost his wealth during the Great Depression and the family moved to the US in 1933, where Saint Phalle attended Brearley School, a girls' school in New York City. Saint Phalle reported later in her life, in an autobiography titled Mon Secret (1994), that her father had sexually abused her from age 11. From an early age, Saint Phalle pushed boundaries in her artistic and personal life. Though she found Brearley School to be a formative experience, later claiming that it was there she became a feminist, she was expelled for painting the fig leaves covering the genitals of statues on the school's campus red. She then attended Oldfields School in Maryland, graduating in 1947. As a young woman, Saint Phalle also worked as a model, appearing on the front covers of Life Magazine and Vogue. When she was 18, Saint Phalle eloped with Henry Matthews, an author and childhood friend. While Matthews studied music at Harvard University, Saint Phalle began to explore painting, and gave birth to her daughter Laura in 1951, when she was 20 years old. Early Training and work In 1952, the Matthews and Saint Phalle moved to Paris, where he continued to study music and Saint Phalle studied theater. The couple traveled extensively in Europe, gaining exposure to art by the Old Masters. The following year, Saint Phalle was diagnosed with a "nervous breakdown" and hospitalized in a psychiatric facility. She was encouraged to paint as a form of therapy, and consequently gave up her theater studies in favor of becoming an artist. The couple moved to Mallorca off the coast of Spain, where their son Philip was born in 1955. During this time, Saint Phalle developed her imaginative, self-taught style of painting, experimenting with a variety of forms and materials. She also discovered the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, which had a strong influence on her work. Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona was instrumental in Saint Phalle's early conceptualization of the elaborate sculpture garden she would fulfill much later in her career. Mature Period At the end of the 1950s, Saint Phalle and her husband moved back to Paris. In 1960, however, the couple separated and Saint Phalle moved to a new apartment, established a studio, and met artist Jean Tinguely, with whom she would collaborate artistically. Within a year, they had moved in together and begun a romantic relationship. Saint Phalle became part of the Nouveau Réalisme movement along with Tinguely, Yves Klein, Arman and others. She was the only woman in the group. Her first solo exhibition in 1961 punctuated a dynamic period of Saint Phalle's early career, and she met a number of influential artists living in Paris at the time, such as Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, whose use of found objects was to have a strong influence on Saint Phalle's work. She was also friendly with Marcel Duchamp, who first introduced her and Tinguely to Salvador Dalí. The three artists traveled to Spain together to an event celebrating Dali's work, in which a life-sized bull sculpture was detonated with fireworks. In 1963, Tinguely and Saint Phalle moved to an old house just outside Paris, where she began to work on architectural projects as well as her renowned shooting...

Over the past few years, Jesse Hickman has been making minimal abstract paintings on wood with few constraints. He calls this series Notes, thinking of these pieces as drawn sketches...

Over the past few years, Jesse Hickman has been making minimal abstract paintings on wood with few constraints. He calls this series Notes, thinking of these pieces as drawn sketches...

Samuelle Green’s work has always been multidisciplinary. Throughout all her mediums; painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation, there is a common thread of subject matter – that...

Sara Fine-Wilson's "Coming Up for Air" is a mixed media sculpture of multiple ceramic elements that were previously formed, fired, and glazed and the...

Title: "After 77 Years, Again in Fear?" - Mixed Media Assemblage on Canvas Discover the powerful and thought-provoking artwork "After 77 Years, Again in Fear?" by acclaimed contempo...

Title: "After 77 Years, Again in Fear?" - Mixed Media Assemblage on Canvas Discover the powerful and thought-provoking artwork "After 77 Years, Again in Fear?" by acclaimed contemporary artist Irena Orlov. This original mixed media assemblage, measuring H34" x W57", masterfully incorporates various dimensional elements and techniques, including painting and found objects, to create a captivating abstract piece with a profound global message. Medium and Materials: This extraordinary artwork is a mixed media assemblage on fine art canvas, skillfully hand-stretched over 1" deep wood stretched bars. The artist's creative vision weaves together an intriguing combination of materials, including plastic, original World War 2 chemical gas masks, copper mesh, and small metal round container...

Modern-day rendition of the world's oldest computer, the real-life Antikythera Mechanism (c. 205 BC). To our knowledge, the world's first outright, true sculpture that honors the world's oldest computer. The Antikythera Mechanism was a hand-powered astronomical calculator/planetarium consisting of anywhere from 24 to approximately 30 interlocking concentric gears and cogs. It was the most complex man-made instrument ever made until nearly the Renaissance, a fact which demands rewrite on the capabilities of the ancients. The ART-ikythera directly connects Archimedes to the invention of the mechanism by virtue of the symbol for Pi being inscribed on the sculpture base. Also inscribed is a spiral glyph, gleaned from the real-life Archimedes Palimpsest. Another accoutrement is the "eye of Archimedes," a concave mirror which when illuminated casts the illusion of a convex magnifying glass. The shape of the base is a square within a circle, symbolizing how Archimedes "squared the circle" to calculate Pi to the second decimal expansion (3.14). ART-ikythera is an esoteric code generator with clues and ciphers leading to a unique scientific perspective. SPECS: Total of 23 individual pieces, including spot-welded antique and vintage cast-iron gears, cogs and sprockets from used farm implements, antique brass all angle inclinometer (late 19th century), antique padlock...

Sara Fine-Wilson's "Magic Carpet Ride" is a mixed media sculpture incorporating extruded and hand formed glazed and unglazed ceramic elements with epoxy. These elements are created, ...

"Ruptured Futures" Satirical Bond Paperwork Collage Elaborate collage by Mickey "Kano" Kane (American, 20th century). This piece is a satirical collage that mimics the ornate design...

Security Knight 646 from Linda Stein’s Knights of Protection series functions both as a defender in battle and a symbol of pacifism. The series references popular and religious icon...

Knight of Courage 655 is from Linda Stein's Body-Swapping Armor series. These wearable sculptures are ambiguous and androgynous in form, allowing the wearer to explore new and differ...