--- title: "Nikki de saint Phalle: results at LLB Auction" source: LLB Auction canonical: "https://www.llb-auction.com/artists/nikki-de-saint-phalle" currency: EUR price_basis: "hammer, excluding buyer's premium and VAT" scope: results at this auction house only --- # Nikki de saint Phalle LLB Auction has offered 3 lots by Nikki de saint Phalle since May 2025 and sold 3 of them for hammer prices from €1,100 to €1,667. | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Born | 1930 | | Died | 2002 | | Nationality | French, American | | Movements | Nouveau Réalisme | | Lots offered at LLB Auction | 3 | | Lots sold | 3 | | Range of prices realised | €1,100 to €1,667 | | Median price realised | €1,500 | ## Lots | Work | Medium | Sale | Date | Estimate | Hammer | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Nana Arc-En-Ciel | Lithograph on Arches paper | Tribute to Yayoi Kusama & others | 1 October 2026 | €600 to €1,200 | €1,100 | | Dear Clarice from Eight by Eight to Celebrate the Temporary Contemporary | Color lithograph on Rives BFK paper | Tribute to Yayoi Kusama & others | 1 October 2026 | €1,000 to €1,500 | €1,500 | | Dear Clarice (from the Eight by Eight to Celebrate the Temporary Contemporary portfolio) 1983 | Print | Contemporary Art Spring 2025 | 18 May 2025 | €1,000 to €1,500 | €1,667 | ## About Nikki de saint Phalle ### Life and work Niki de Saint Phalle was a French and American artist, born near Paris in 1930 and dead in California in 2002. She had no academic training. She first worked as a fashion model, then began to paint, and she came to international attention with the Tirs, assemblages of plaster and hidden paint bags that she shot at with a rifle in front of an audience. In 1961 she joined the Nouveaux Réalistes gathered around the critic Pierre Restany, the only woman in the group, and took part in their exhibition at the Galerie J in Paris. Her first solo show in New York opened in 1962 at the gallery of Alexander Iolas. From the middle of the sixties she turned to the Nanas, large female figures in brightly painted polyester that became her best known motif. In 1966 she built Hon, a huge reclining Nana that visitors could walk into, with Jean Tinguely and Per Olof Ultvedt at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In 1967 the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam gave her a museum survey. Her later years went into monumental projects, above all the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, and into public fountains made with Tinguely, whom she married. A retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2014 renewed wide interest in her work. ### Unique works and editions Her output falls into distinct markets. Unique Tirs, early assemblages and large Nanas sit at the top and appear in major sales of contemporary art. Painted polyester sculptures were often made in numbered editions, sometimes with each cast coloured differently, and these trade below unique pieces but well above works on paper. Drawings, often with handwritten text and bright felt tip colour, form a middle tier. Prints, posters and multiples are the most common category and change hands mainly in dedicated print sales. LLB Auction has sold one work by her, a print titled Dear Clarice from the Eight by Eight portfolio, in its spring sale of 2025. The title recalls Clarice Rivers, the friend whose pregnancy inspired the first Nanas. ### What a specialist examines For sculpture, the specialist looks for the signature and the number, usually on the underside or on a metal plaque, and for the fabricator mark. The edition size and any artist proof status must match the published information. Painted polyester is fragile, so the specialist checks for cracks, paint losses, fading and earlier repairs. The foundation listed under Career must authorise restorations of her work and expects them to be recorded, so an undocumented repair can weigh on a sale. For drawings, a signature and date in the artist's hand, handwritten inscriptions and a clear family or gallery provenance matter most. For prints, the specialist checks the edition number, whether the sheet is signed in pencil or ink, the paper and the margins. The foundation does not register printed works, so a print is judged on its own evidence and on its publication record. Exhibition history and published literature add weight for unique works. ### Market position Recent public results at Bonhams show the spread between categories. Sun God, a cast polyester sculpture from an edition of seven with individual colouring, sold for USD 40,000 in New York in 2013. Vase Chien, an editioned sculpture in resin, iron and earthenware, sold for USD 28,160 in Los Angeles in 2024. A signed offset lithograph, Untitled (Self Portrait with Gun), sold for USD 5,355 in New York in 2022. A small signed drawing in felt tip pen and pencil sold for EUR 4,864 at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris in 2025. All four figures include the buyer's premium. ### Preparing a valuation request A seller should gather the purchase invoice and any gallery, publisher or family provenance. Clear photographs of the front, the back or underside, the signature and any number or fabricator mark are needed. Give the exact dimensions, the medium and the edition number where there is one. For a sculpture, include a condition report and any record of past restoration. For a unique work, mention any registration document already issued by the foundation, and any exhibition or publication history. For a print, state the publisher and the portfolio if known, and say whether the sheet is framed or has been trimmed. ## Market at LLB Auction | Figure | Value | |---|---| | Share sold | 100% | | Record hammer | €1,667 (Dear Clarice (from the Eight by Eight to Celebrate the Temporary Contemporary portfolio) 1983) | | Hammer vs low estimate | 1.67x | | Lots above high estimate | 1 | ### Prices by medium | Medium | Offered | Sold | Lowest hammer | Median hammer | Highest hammer | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Color Lithograph On Rives BFK Paper | 1 | 1 | €1,500 | €1,500 | €1,500 | | Lithograph On Arches Paper | 1 | 1 | €1,100 | €1,100 | €1,100 | | Print | 1 | 1 | €1,667 | €1,667 | €1,667 | ### Year by year | Year | Offered | Sold | Total hammer | |---|---|---|---| | 2025 | 1 | 1 | €1,667 | | 2026 | 2 | 2 | €2,600 | ## Public auction records Other auction houses published these results, cited from the linked sources. They are separate from the results of LLB Auction. | House | Date | Work | Price (basis) | Source | |---|---|---|---|---| | Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr | 4 December 2025 | Sans titre (1990) | €4,864 (premium) | https://www.bonhams.com/auction/30880/lot/77/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002-sans-titre-1990/ | | Bonhams | 1 October 2024 | Vase Chien (1992) | US$28,160 (premium) | https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29509/lot/168/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002-vase-chien/ | | Bonhams | 12 May 2022 | Untitled (Self Portrait with Gun) (c.1960) | US$5,355 (premium) | https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27565/lot/239/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002-untitled-self-portrait-with-gun/ | | Bonhams | 12 November 2013 | Sun God (1981-82) | US$40,000 (premium) | https://www.bonhams.com/auction/21021/lot/118/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002-sun-god-1981-82/ | ## Career ### Cautions - The Niki Charitable Art Foundation does not issue registration documents for printed artwork (lithographs, serigraphs, offset and similar), so a print is judged on its own signature, numbering and publication record. (https://nikidesaintphalle.org/foundation/services/registration/) - The Foundation has sole responsibility for authorising restoration of any work attributed to the artist, and restorations must be recorded and approved by it; an unrecorded repair to a painted polyester sculpture can weigh on a sale. (https://nikidesaintphalle.org/foundation/services/restoration/) - Many polyester sculptures were issued in numbered editions, sometimes with each cast coloured individually; check the number, edition size and fabricator mark against the published information. (https://www.bonhams.com/auction/21021/lot/118/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002-sun-god-1981-82/) ### Exhibitions | Exhibition | Venue | Year | |---|---|---| | À 40° au-dessus de Dada (Nouveaux Réalistes group show) | Galerie J, Paris | 1961 | | First New York solo exhibition | Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York | 1962 | | Hon, en katedral (with Jean Tinguely and Per Olof Ultvedt) | Moderna Museet, Stockholm | 1966 | | Les Nanas au pouvoir | Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam | 1967 | | Niki de Saint Phalle retrospective | Grand Palais, Paris | 2014 | ### Authentication bodies - Niki Charitable Art Foundation (https://nikidesaintphalle.org/foundation/services/registration/): Considers unique works for registration once a year on application (fee per work, applications by 30 June); issues no registration documents for printed artwork and gives no appraisals or valuations. It also has sole responsibility for authorising restorations. ## Comparables Comparable price band (middle half of hammer prices here): €1,100 to €1,667 Related artists: Victor Vasarely, Andrew Scott, Daniel Arsham, George Condo, Robert Indiana, Sam Francis ## Questions ### How many works by Nikki de saint Phalle has LLB Auction sold? Between May 2025 and October 2026, LLB Auction sold 3 of the 3 lots by Nikki de saint Phalle it offered (100%). ### What is the record price for Nikki de saint Phalle at LLB Auction? The record is €1,667 for Dear Clarice (from the Eight by Eight to Celebrate the Temporary Contemporary portfolio) 1983, in the sale Contemporary Art Spring 2025 of 18 May 2025, against an estimate of €1,000 to €1,500. ### What does a work by Nikki de saint Phalle usually sell for at LLB Auction? The median hammer price is €1,500 across 3 lots sold. ### Do works by Nikki de saint Phalle sell above their estimate at LLB Auction? 1 of the 3 lots sold went above their high estimate. On average the hammer reached 1.67 times the low estimate. ### Do these prices include the buyer’s premium? The prices on this page are hammer prices, before the buyer’s premium and VAT. The results page of each sale gives the price with premium of every lot sold. ### How do I get a valuation of a work by Nikki de saint Phalle? Send photos of the work, of its signature and of any certificate through the valuation form. Lyna Brahami compares it with the results of Nikki de saint Phalle at the house and replies free of charge within 48 working hours. ## Sources - LLB Auction catalogue (Proprietary) - Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_de_Saint_Phalle - Wikipédia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_de_Saint_Phalle - Wikidata (CC0): https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q168704 - Bonhams (all rights reserved, cited under quotation): https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29509/lot/168/niki-de-saint-phalle-1930-2002-vase-chien/ - Niki Charitable Art Foundation (all rights reserved, cited under quotation): https://nikidesaintphalle.org/foundation/services/registration/ - Erling Mandelmann, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niki_de_Saint_Phalle_(1964)_by_Erling_Mandelmann.jpg ## Valuations Request a free valuation: https://www.llb-auction.com/sell