Finding Niki Di Saint Phalle in Italy

Driving from Radicondoli to Rome is usually a routine affair. But not this time. I turned off the Via Aurelia for lunch up in the hills in a town called Capalbio. A coffee after in piazza brought me in front of an familiar “Nanas” mosaic woman sculpture of artist Niki de Saint Phalle.. “Her life’s-work sculpture garden is 15 minutes down that back road” said the barista.

Her “Tarot Garden” was a place I’d always planned to see one day…and here I’d dumbed into it., and with a free afternoon to boot. Maybe because it arrived without expectation, maybe because it’s truly is a special place, but it swept me off me feet. Up on an unlikely field, massive sculpture after massive sculpture of bright mosaic amorphous beings arise from nowhere. Each a “tarot” player in the Niki de Saint Phalle fantasy that was her life. How she was able to stay focused for 12 years, live on the grounds, directed the army of artisans, fund the damn thing…and see it through to the beautiful completion. All thoughts that captivated me. Actively recommend to make the Tarot Gardens a destination. From out of nowhere, life breaks out and screams in your ear. Wonder is alive on a hillside in Tuscany, in full technicolor. Kids come alive. Adults relax and contemplate- what more they might do with this life we’re given. All gifts of Niki de Saint Phalle.