Counting Sheep with "Les Lalanne"

Everyone can recognize animals throughout the world. 

You don't have to explain what they are or mean.

Francois-Xavier Lalanne

(1927 - 2008)

The French artist Francois-Xavier Lalanne trained as a painter but became a sculptor of surrealistic animals. His "Mouton de Pierre," a group of ten painted epoxy stone and patinated bronze sheep, sold for $7,474,500 at a Christie's auction in 2011.

According to the New York Times, Lalanne said he "wanted to bring the notion of usefulness to sculpture and to demystify art, which he regarded as a funhouse rather than a cathedral." As a young man, he briefly worked at the Louvre and on days when the museum was closed, he could not resist the opportunity to climb onto the back of the bull Apis in the ancient galleries. With regard to his own art he explained, "Just the fact that you can squat on it reduced the risk of this inappropriate devotion."  

Lalanne met his future wife Claude Dupeaux when she attended a showing of his portraits and landscapes at a Paris gallery in 1952. For a while the couple created window displays together. One of their clients was the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who later bought many pieces of the art they made. Said Francois-Xavier and Claude about their creations, "They are not furniture, they are not sculpture - call them 'Lalannes.' "

Francois-Xavier Lalanne died in 2008 at age 81, but his widow Claude Lalanne (born in 1924) continues to produce work in Ury (south of Paris) where she and her husband created art together. Designer Reed Krakoff and architect Peter Marino are two high-profile fans of Lalannes, and photos below feature the works in interiors the two men have designed. Paul Kasmin Gallery represents Les Lalannes.

 Christie's sold Crocodile Banquette, a gilt-bronze and copper crocodile bench designed by Claude Lalanne in 2008 for $482,500 on December 8, 2009. A chair with a similar design appears in a photograph below of Reed and Delphine Krakoff's home.

Christie's sold Claude Lalanne's Banc Crocodile, Petit Modele, 2008 for $156,806 in Paris on May 28, 2010. Similar benches appear in two rooms featured below.

Here are some photos of sheep and crocodile sculptures created by "Les Lalannes:"

Moutons Transhumant (Bebris), 1988.

"Moutons, a herd of 12 sheep and lambs, was first created in 1965, with several updated editions since. The work was created to be something 

invasive and out of the ordinary,' meant to mock what is traditionally viewed as 'fine art.' Placement in the Palmetum evokes a peaceful, pastoral setting. 

The art of Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne was at Fairchild [Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida] during the 2010 - 2011 art season. Their art is inspired by nature itself as Claude Lalanne typically uses plant forms in her work and her husband 
Francois-Xavier used animal forms."

Photo credit: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

Lalanne Sheep, 1965.

Salle de Reception designed by Waldo Fernandez.

The Great House at Greystone Estate Show House.

Photography by Peter Vitale.

Veranda.

"The entry holds a pair of 1940s Gilbert Poillerat lanterns, a Deniot-designed mirror, and a sheep sculpture by Francois-Xavier Lalanne; the console is draped with linen embroidered and painted by Jean-Francois Lesage."

Paris pied-a-terre.

Interior design by Jean-Louis Deniot.

Photography by Miguel Flores-Vianna.

"Luxe Living on the Left Bank" by Ian Phillips.

Elle Decor (May 2011).

Another view of the entry and the Lalanne sheep sculpture.

"Artwork above the console is by Sebastian Hempel, and the pair of brass-and-chrome lamps are from the 1970s; the floor is paved in 18th-century French limestone 

with black-marble accents."

Paris pied-a-terre.

Interior design by Jean-Louis Deniot.

Photography by Miguel Flores-Vianna.

"Luxe Living on the Left Bank" by Ian Phillips.

Elle Decor (May 2011).

"Alexander Liberman's dot painting hangs above Garouste and Bonetti's console and chairs and a flock of Lalanne sheep in the entrance hall."
Manhattan home of Reed and Delphine Krakoff.
Interior design by Reed and Delphine Krakoff.
"Reed and Delphine Krakoff: Design for Living" by Hamish Bowles.
Photography by Sheila Metzner.
Vogue (August 15, 2010).


 "Robert Motherwell's 1968 Open No. 16 surveys the living room's designscape. The Claude Lalanne bronze crocodile chair sits next to a chrome-and-Lucite 
Guy de Rougemont coffee table. Jean Royere's 1953 sofa.
Manhattan home of Reed and Delphine Krakoff.
Interior design by Reed and Delphine Krakoff.
"Reed and Delphine Krakoff: Design for Living" by Hamish Bowles.
Photography by Sheila Metzner.
Vogue (August 15, 2010).

Cocktail table by Claude Lalanne.
Four Seasons penthouse suite of Ty Warner.
Interior architecture and design by Peter Marino, FAIA.
Architecture by I. M. Pei, FAIA.
Photography by Durston Saylor.
Architectural Digest (July 2007).

"Armchairs upholstered in linen velvet by Quadrille, a custom-designed ottoman by Jonas Upholstery, and a Claude Lalanne bronze bench used as a cocktail table in the library; decorative artist Jean Carrau painted the paneling to resemble pine and treated the knots with gold leaf."
Interior design by Brian McCarthy.
Architecture firm: Fairfax and Sammons.
Photography by William Waldron.
"The Transformers" by Mitchell Owens.
Elle Decor.