design-dautore: Voilà Les Lalanne

Claude and François-Xavier met in 1952 and started working together in 1956. Since their first exhibition entitled "Zoophites" in 1964, this inseparable couple of surrealist artists have always exhibited and worked together, and consequently have often been regarded as a single entity, although they rarely collaborated on a piece of work.Their unconventional sculptures have individual styles but share a common inspiration in animals and nature, and an ironic vocation to become whimsical but functional objects that can be touched, sat upon, worn and sometimes even eaten.

Cocodoll, François-Xavier Lalanne, 1964

Claude’s works, often designed to be used as jewellery, furniture and tableware, tend to be more delicate, intricate and baroque. Her late husband (François-Xavier passed away in 2008 at 81) crafted more weighty, monumental and stylized forms, often remindful of ancient Egyptian sculptures.

Oiseau à bascule, François-Xavier Lalanne, 1974

Les Lalanne's mischievous creatures are a playful and unique combination of fine and decorative art, design and figurative sculpture, surrealism and Nouveau Realisme. They gathered a cult following among important private collectors around the world, including fashion icons like Yves Sain Laurent, Coco Chanel and Tom Ford.