Untitled

'Jean gives off an electric energy when he enters the rooms. He fills the space. He lives in the present. He sees everything in the room around him instantly [...] His genius constantly manifests itself in his physical presence - which is not true of many great artists - and his paradoxical, original, amusing and striking way of speaking. One of Jean's great strengths lies in the fact that he is never afraid of being ridiculous. He expresses himself without a pause, without consideration, in life as in his work. He is like one of his machines, always on the go.'
(N. de Saint Phalle, quoted in Tinguely, exh. cat., Paris, Georges Pompidou Centre, 1988, p. 358).