At the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris, two graves stand out from the rest. A smiling mosaic cat sits on the grave of a man named Ricardo Manon, decorated with rainbow stripes and red flowers. A silver bird with its wings spread perches on the grave of Jean-Jacques Goetzman, along with an engraved phrase in gilded lettering: "À mon Ami Jean-Jacques un oiseau qui s'est envolé trop tôt" ("To my friend Jean-Jacques, a bird who flew away too early").
Both sculptures were crafted by the French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle to honor two of her friends who had died from autoimmune deficiency syndrome. The artist had previously written and illustrated the 1986 book "AIDS: You Can't Catch It Holding Hands," in collaboration with the Swiss immunologist and AIDS specialist Silvio Barandun. At a time when little was known about AIDS and much was assumed, Saint Phalle allied herself with the artists and healthcare professionals working to communicate the truth and urgency of the health crisis.
"I realized a few days ago that when Ricardo died, it was the beginning of a long depression for me," Saint Phalle wroteafter the death of Manon, who had been her assistant for a decade.
