“I used to think there was a need to provoke, to attack religion, and the generals. And then I understood that there is nothing more shocking than joy”, artist Niki de Saint Phalle once declared.

The venerated French painter sculptor died on this day in 2002, aged 71, after a lifetime filling the world with her joyful and exuberant creations, from her dancing nanas, womanly forms that are both playful and assertive, to her fountains and public art – but surely the most ambitious and impressive among them is The Tarot Garden (Il Giardino dei Tarocchi) in Tuscany. The artist considered it her life work.

The vast sculpture park is built on land de Saint Phalle acquired in 1979, and took almost two decades to complete. De Saint Phalle funded the construction herself, and worked with a local team – many are still employed at the park today. The project was so all-consuming that before it opened to the public in 1998, the artist lived inside one of the sculptures, the Empress, for several years.

The 22 sculptures – reinforced concrete, adorned with mirrors and mosaics – each represent 22 major arcana of the divinatory, esoteric tarot. De Saint Phalle said she wanted to create a “dialogue between nature and the sculptures”, and after her death that the park should always be accessible to the public, to exist as ”a garden of joy.” Today, it easily rivals the power of Parc Güell or Parco dei Mostri – two landmark locations that inspired de Saint Phalle. It is a reminder that you can never dream too big.

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