Les Lalanne (sometimes translated as "The Lalannes" in English) is the term for the French artist team of François-Xavier Lalanne (1927–2008) and Claude Lalanne (1924–2019).

Biographies

Francois-Xavier Lalanne was born in

Agen, France The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department o ...

, and received a

Jesuit education , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. At age 18, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and studied sculpture, drawing and painting at

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

. In 1948 Lalanne worked as an attendant at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in the Oriental Antiques section. Francois-Xavier rented a studio in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

, next door to friend

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...

, after completing mandatory military service. Brâncuși introduced Lalanne to artists such as

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

, and

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art s ...

. He met Claude Lalanne at his first gallery show in 1952. The show signified an end of painting for François-Xavier as he and his wife Claude began their career sculpting together. Claude Lalanne became known to the larger public in France in 1976 when the singer

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

selected one of her works, "The man with the head of a cabbage", for the title and cover of an album of his. In 1983 Lalanne was commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture to design new monumental fountains for the square in front of the

Hôtel de Ville, Paris The Hôtel de Ville (, ''City Hall'') is the city hall of Paris, France, standing on the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville – Esplanade de la Libération in the 4th arrondissement. The south wing was originally constructed by François I beginning i ...

, and also to design gardens for the reconstructed

Les Halles Les Halles (; 'The Halls') was Paris' central fresh food market. It last operated on January 12, 1973, after which it was "left to the demolition men who will knock down the last three of the eight iron-and-glass pavilions""Les Halles Dead at 200 ...

in the center of Paris. Claude Lalanne (1924–2019) was born in Paris and studied architecture at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

and at the

École des Arts Décoratifs École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région ...

. She involved herself in the artist community in Impasse Ronsin, Montparnasse, Paris and became friends with American artists

Larry Rivers Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg) (1923 – 2002) was an American artist, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was one of the first artists ...

and Jimmy Metcalf who helped her develop the art of

electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be ...

. Since 1988, Les Lalannes worked closely with Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand who has represented them in the Mitterrand Galerie in Paris. Les Lalanne are represented by the

Paul Kasmin Gallery The Kasmin Gallery, formerly known as the Paul Kasmin Gallery, is a New York City fine art gallery, founded in SoHo in 1989. History The gallery was founded by its namesake as the Paul Kasmin Gallery in 1989 and was initially housed at 74 Grand S ...

in New York City and Ben Brown Fine Arts in London.

Artworks and exhibitions

The themes explored by the two collectively went against the current trend of Abstract art in the 1960s. The couple believed and Francois-Xavier claimed, "the supreme art is the art of living". The couple began attracting public attention in Paris during the 1960s when Yves Saint Laurent and

Pierre Bergé Pierre Vital Georges Bergé (; 14 November 1930 – 8 September 2017) was a French industrialist and patron. He co-founded the fashion label Yves Saint Laurent, and was a longtime business partner (and onetime life partner) of its namesake des ...

commissioned them. In particular, Francois-Xavier's realistic bronze cast sheep covered in skin alongside lily vanes cast by Claude were displayed in the library of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. Their first exhibition together included Francois-Xavier's famous rhinoceros desk, ''Rhinocrétaire'', and Claude's cabbage with chicken legs sculpture. Similar themes by Les Lalanne have classified their works as an ode to Surrealism and Art Nouveau. Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne were known to co-create on projects rather than collaborate. While François-Xavier favored sculpting animal themes, Claude preferred vegetation. These themes are paired in their 1989 public art installation of

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

fountains for the City of

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

Third Street Promenade The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall esplanade, shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965. It is considered a premier ...

entitled ''The Dinosaurs of Santa Monica'', where six tall topiary dinosaurs spew jets of water. In the 21st century, the works of Les Lalanne have been exhibited in different venues in New York City. In 2009, the artist duo participated in "

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

Recession Art", an effort developed by the Paul Kasmin Gallery, the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

’s public-art division, and the Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee. The project comprised a series of sculptures in between

crosswalk A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road ...

s on Park Avenue. The featured pieces were a bronze apple called ''Pomme de New York'' on 52nd Street, ''Moutons'' on 53rd Street, ''Choupatte (Très Grand)'' on 56th Street, and ''Singe Avisé (Très Grand)'' on 58th Street, which was François-Xavier's last sculpture. In late 2013, Mr. LaLanne's sheep were the inaugural public installation of ''Getty Station'', a former gas service station conceived by real estate developer and art collector

Michael Shvo Michael Shvo (born December 29, 1972) is a real estate developer based in New York City with offices in Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. He is the Chairman and CEO of SHVO, a real estate development company he founded in 2004. ...

in Manhattan's Chelsea district, to much fanfare.

Selected press

Kinsella, Eileen, "Sotheby's Boosts Private S, 2 Sales With London Hires, NYC Lalanne Show", ''Artinfo'', 10/7/13.

* [http://www.architecturaldigest.com/blogs/daily/2013/09/sheep-station-getty-francois-xavier-lalanne-michael-shvo-paul-kasmin Cochran, Samuel, "François-Xavier Lalanne's ''Mouton'' Sculptures Go On View at 'Sheep Station'", ''Architectural Digest'', 9/18/13.]
Grey, Tobias, "Next to Nature, Art", ''The Wall Street Journal'', 6/20/13.

References

{{ACArt 20th-century French sculptors 21st-century French sculptors French male sculptors Académie Julian alumni People from Agen Artists from Paris