François-Xavier Lalanne - Design London Wednesday, November 2, 2022 | Phillips
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    From his first Moutons de Laine to his later Moutons de Pierre and Nouveaux Moutons, François-Xavier Lalanne’s sheep have become iconic expressions of his imaginative creations. An ensemble of whimsical sculptures, including the present ‘Brebis’, were conceived as much as works of art as innovative pieces of furniture. Since the 1960s, they have graced the homes of distinguished collectors and embody the sense of playfulness at the heart the artist’s oeuvre. One of Lalanne’s aims was to turn sculptures into everyday objects and to demystify the concept of art in doing so. Of his sheep designs, he said: ‘Just the fact that you can squat on it reduces the risk of this inappropriate devotion.’

     

    The first flock were made from wool for Lalanne’s acclaimed 1966 installation titled Pour Polyphème shown at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. The title was an homage to Homer’s Odyssey in which the cyclops Polythemus captures Odysseus and his compatriots, who escape their captivity by clinging onto the bellies of the monster’s giant sheep. These mythology-inspired woolly creatures gave way in the late 1970s, and again in the early 1990s, to remarkable new versions in epoxy stone and patinated bronze which allowed them to be displayed outside. The Nouveaux Moutons included a rams and lambs to complete the family.

     

    Lalanne’s fascination with the natural and animal world was perhaps ignited during his early days working as an attendant at the Musée du Louvre in the galleries of ancient Egyptian and Assyrian art, surrounded by sculptures. Those imposing natural forms would have had a lasting effect on him and possibly inspired the creation of the menagerie that is an important part of his artistic output. Through sculptural figures and ingenious constructions, he brought to life rhinoceros, hippos, gorillas and sheep to name but a few, often giving them a function in the domestic space. Using a rhino as a desk, a gorilla as a safe or a sheep as a seat undoubtedly conveyed his passionate interest in subverting traditional art forms in a way that recalls the Surrealist movement.

     

    Lalanne’s captivating imaginary world has seduced spectators internationally. In nature, the artist found an extensive array of images and inventive ideas which he employed to make fine arts visceral and accessible. ‘Everyone can recognise animals throughout the world’, he said. ‘You don’t have to explain what they are or mean’. Photographs of his studio in a farmhouse in Ury, France, which he shared with his wife, the artist Claude Lalanne (who designed Lot 45) , reveal the enchanted world they created around them and that inspired their creative process during their prolific careers.

     

    The epoxy stone and bronze sheep have been praised and exhibited globally, most notably in the middle of New York City’s Fifth Avenue and recently in an exhibition in the garden of the Château de Versailles.

     

    A herd of ‘Nouveaux Moutons’ including the present model ‘Brebis’ exhibited in the middle of Park Avenue, New York Credit: Photo:  Paul Kasmin Gallery
    A herd of ‘Nouveaux Moutons’ including the present model ‘Brebis’ exhibited in the middle of Park Avenue, New York
    Photo: Courtesy Kasmin Gallery, New York, Artwork: © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2022
    • Provenance

      Guy Pieters Gallery, Sint-Martens-Latem
      Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1995

    • Literature

      Daniel Marchessau, The Lalannes, Paris, 1998, p. 37
      Daniel Abadie, Lalanne(s), Paris, 2008, p. 188
      Paul Kasmin, Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne: Art/Work/Life, New York, 2012, n.p.
      Adrian Dannatt, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne: In the Domain of Dreams, New York, 2018, inside cover, pp. 66, 181, 192

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'Brebis', from the 'Nouveaux Moutons' series

1994
Epoxy stone, patinated bronze.
90.3 x 35 x 101 cm (35 1/2 x 13 3/4 x 39 3/4 in.)
Produced by Fonderie Blanchet-Landowski, Bagnolet, France. Number 25 from the edition of 250. Underside of muzzle impressed Fondeur Blanchet 25 / 250/1994.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠

Sold for £378,000

Contact Specialist

Antonia King
Head of Sale, Design
+44 20 7901 7944
Antonia.King@phillips.com

Design

London Auction 2 November 2022