The Tarot Garden

In 1979 Saint Phalle began to realise a lifelong ambition to create a magical garden based upon the major arcana of the Tarot deck. The idea came from a visit in 1955 to Antonio Gaudi’s Park Güell, a public garden in Barcelona, the scale and beauty of which fascinated her. The acquisition of a large piece of land in Tuscany finally allowed Saint Phalle to turn her dream into a reality. The Tarot Garden was to be monumental in scale, a bold, imaginative world full of bright colours and fantasy. Through its creation she wanted to demonstrate that a woman was as capable as a man of producing a work on such an ambitious scale. The garden opened to the public in 1998.

This room brings together The Devil O.J. 1988, a model of one of the sculptures made for the garden, with drawings of other Tarot cards brought to life as sculptures within it. Saint Phalle was fascinated by Tarot’s metaphysical qualities and its concern for life’s experiences and self-knowledge which she connected to her own love of life and exploration of human emotion.

Other drawings in this room return to the themes revealed earlier in the exhibition including personal feelings, mythical creatures and the Nanas. The Tarot Garden along with these late works show Saint Phalle’s relentless artistic pursuit and desire to be accepted as an equal amongst her male peers. Never following trends and remaining true to her own style, she let her imagination guide her, giving her freedom from the constraints she had felt so early in life.