Tracing love, liberty and legacy through a rediscovery of the Grand Palais in Paris

By Virginia Carlier

Leonardo Bezzola, [Niki de Saint Phalle, Pontus Hultén and Jean Tinguely at a dinner in the artists’ home-studio, Essonne], September 1982. Image courtesy of Estate Leonardo Bezzola

Anyone who has visited Paris, or has seen it on a movie screen, would recognise the striking glass dome of the Grand Palais. It's incredibly modern and urban yet classical architecture of the ‘Belle Epoque’ has borne witness to many societal changes since it's opening in 1900 for the ‘Universal Exhibition’. Since then, this edifice of French culture has stayed true to its core mission of public accessibility and celebration of cultural exchange of all shapes and sizes. Bridging the elements of glass, stone and steel, this monumental space has assumed many roles throughout its existence. Over the years, the Grand Palais has welcomed visitors not only as an exhibition hall, but also as a horse show arena, a military hospital during WWII, and most recently an Olympic sports venue.[1]

Reflecting like a mirror Paris’s ever-changing transformations throughout the twentieth century, it is no surprise that the Grand Palais has remained contemporary through its exhibition programme, since reopening its doors in summer 2025 after four years of intensive restoration. One of the opening exhibitions housed by the Grand Palais since June 2025 has been ‘Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hulten’ which intends to unveil the unique chemistry that connected these three figures of contemporary art throughout most of the twentieth century. 

As visitors cross the threshold of this exhibition, they are first met by an explanatory text detailing the deep complicity shared by the married duo of impassioned and rebellious artists and founders of ‘Nouveau Réalisme’ movement: the Franco-American Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) and the Swiss Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), joined here by their life-long friend, the Swedish museum curator Pontus Hulten (1924-2006). Although the trio’s movie-worthy relationship is enthralling to discover, what truly brings this exhibition to life is the great number of personal mementos, sketches and letters displayed as an overture to the audacious art displayed. 

By evoking the singular nature of the couple’s intertwined creativity, with never-before-seen archival videos lent by the Centre Pompidou, visitors are invited to witness their ambitious projects that altered the trajectory of contemporary art. Especially remarkable was a 1959 film of Tinguely demonstrating a piece of printmaking machinery to an inquisitive crowd in front of the Museum of Modern Art for the inauguration of the very first Paris Biennale. This video excerpt reminds visitors of the terrifyingly innovative nature of the Swiss artist’s pieces. As remarked in the book ‘The Machine as Art / the Machine as Artist’, it is only during the post-war cultural revolution of the 1950s that “machines become a legitimate artistic medium” with Paris being at the epicentre of such developments.[2]

Unknown photographer, [Inauguration of the first Paris Biennale by André Malraux on the forecourt of the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris], October 3, 1959. Image courtesy of Biennale de Paris.

With such an introduction, one would hope to see Tinguely’s unconventional, sometimes monumental, animated sound machines shown in movement. Yet only a handful of artworks in this exhibition could be operated by visitors and the rest were reduced to signage and the beholder’s imagination. Alongside Tinguely’s motionless steel giants were scattered Saint Phalle’s notoriously performative series of shooting paintings known as ‘Tirs’, as well as her goddess-like sculptures ‘Nanas’, reminiscent of curiously colourful easter eggs. These voluptuous and vibrant feminine forms lead up to Saint Phalle’s iconic project, entitled ‘HON – en katedral’ meaning ‘SHE – a cathedral’, presented in 1966 at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

Once again, visitors come expecting a memorable viewing experience of the ‘HON’ reclining pregnant woman, distinctly shown on the exhibition’s poster, only to be met by the exhibition’s archival photographs of the installation, due to it having been destroyed in 1966 as per Saint Phalle’s wishes. As remarked by Annika Ohrner the invasive intention of this oeuvre “served to disturb power relations within artistic networks and cultural life at a time when both the representation of women and gender positions in the arts were being challenged”.[3] This argument is still as palpable and relevant today as it was in the 1960’s. 

Niki de Saint Phalle, Hon – en katedral, 1966, installation view, Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Image courtesy of 2025 Niki Charitable Art Foundation / Adagp, Paris. 

Ultimately, it is only once visitors stop in their tracks to contemplate the unspoken philosophy surrounding these artworks that the overarching artistic message becomes clear: from dust to ashes. This shared ethos linking Tinguely’s self-destructive kinetic machinery to Saint Phalle’s violently cathartic pieces lies in the anarchic conviction that destruction is a necessary yet paradoxical means of creation, which fundamentally paves the way for artistic regeneration.

Although one can criticize the lack of artworks in movement or present at all, the main issue is the exhibition’s lack of connection with the third enigmatic character, Pontus Hulten. He is understood to be an omnipresent fairy godfather to the two artists, and yet the development of their triangular friendship is only made clearer in the last part of the exhibition on the theme of institutional legacy.

A touching moment illustrating this theme occurs in one of the final rooms of the exhibition, which describes the famous public installations that outlived the couple: Tinguely’s ‘Le Cyclop’ (1994) in Milly-la-Forêt, south of Paris and Saint Phalle's ‘Tarot Garden’ (1998) in Garavicchio, Tuscany. 

Peter Granser, [The artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden], 2016. Image courtesy of Peter Granser / The New Yorker.

It is only then made evident to visitors that the legacy of these two artists occurred thanks to the friendship and unconditional support of Hulten. This is a fitting end to the exhibition in a way that honours the artists intertwined spirits. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Jean Tinguely’s birth, the curatorial intention of this exhibition shines as brightly as the newly renovated Grand Palais, allowing visitors to fully immerse themselves in the generous space and in the contemporary nature of the art on display.

If you find yourself in Paris soon, it is well worthwhile to wander around the newly refurbished Grand Palais and to discover (or rediscover) the fascinatingly unique and defiant world of ‘Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hulten’ from 26 June 2025 to 4 January 2026.

Bibliography:

Le Grand Palais. “L’histoire Du Grand Palais.” Grandpalais.fr, March 5, 2013. https://www.grandpalais.fr/fr/le-grand-palais.

Leymarie, Frederic Fol, Juliette Bessette, and G.W. Smith. The Machine as Art / the Machine as Artist. MDPI EBooks. MDPI, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-03936-065-9.

Öhrner, Annika. “Niki de Saint Phalle Playing with the Feminine in the Male Factory: HON – En Katedral - Stedelijk Studies.” stedelijkstudies.com. Stedelijk Museum, 2018. https://stedelijkstudies.com/journal/niki-de-saint-phalle-playing-with-the-feminine-in-the-male-factory-hon-en-katedral/.

“Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hultén : Catalogue de l’exposition.” Boutiques de Musées, RMNGP & Centre Pompidou / Éditions Flammarion, 4 juin 2025. https://www.boutiquesdemusees.fr/en/product/68003-niki-de-saint-phalle-jean-tinguely-pontus-hulten.html