Niki de Saint Phalle

World-famous are the Nanas by the French sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 – 2002), to whom the museum Beelden aan Zee will devote considerable attention in the fall of 2019. Colorful, exuberantly cheerful female figures who go through life dancing, jumping, and bursting with energy. Their joie de vivre is infectious to everyone. The Nanas are depicted on posters and towels, populate exhibitions, and stand prominently in public spaces. In the mid-1960s, the Nanas, with their unambiguous polyester appearance, caused quite a stir in the world of modern art. Nevertheless, they have remained consistently popular with the general public ever since. It is not for nothing that people speak of ‘Nana power’. After all, they are strong women who must be taken seriously. The exhibition Nana’s aan Zee is a solo for Nana and an ode to femininity!

Nana is timeless. It is Niki de Saint Phalle's personal version of Eve, of Venus, of all women in the world from the past and present. With her Nana, the sculptor has created an iconic image of women. Self-assured and independent, the Nanas convey a contemporary message. The eternal debate about the relationship between men and women, equal treatment and remuneration, as well as the recent worldwide attention to the #MeToo movement, confirm this time and again. 

The choice of museum Beelden aan Zee for this solo of Nana also closely aligns with the origin of the collection and the location of the museum. In 1994, twenty-five years ago, the building designed by architect Wim Quist was opened as a museum with the sculpture collection of the collector couple Scholten-Miltenburg as its starting point. The human figure is central in that collection. The museum is situated on the North Sea beach of the historic seaside resort Scheveningen, thus forming a direct link with the colorful swimsuits of the Nanas. When the Scholtens added the work Les Baigneurs by Niki de Saint Phalle to their collection in 1980, they could not have foreseen this connection.

Museum Beelden aan Zee showcases the development of the Nanas since 1965 in all their diversity through the finest loans from numerous renowned international museum collections such as those of the Sprengel Museum in Hannover and the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain in Nice. From the early, textile-covered papier-mâché figures to the gigantic polyester sculptures from the later years. Nanas, in short, in all sorts of shapes, colors, sizes, and materials. Besides autonomous sculptures, the exhibition also pays attention to the Nanas in the applied sphere - as a chair, bench, or fountain - and to the Nanas on paper, such as sketches, lithographs, and exhibition posters. Nana aan Zee promises to bring museum Beelden aan Zee a warm and exuberant winter.