Claude Lalanne on the Legacy of Les Lalanne
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I hate the word ‘creation,’” Claude Lalanne announced brusquely over the phone from her home in Ury, a commune in the Seine-et-Marne region of France, outside of Fontainebleau. “I make things that amuse me, and that I want to make, and that’s that.Claude Lalanne on the Legacy of Les Lalanne
I hate the word ‘creation,’” Claude Lalanne announced brusquely over the phone from her home in Ury, a commune in the Seine-et-Marne region of France, outside of Fontainebleau. “I make things that amuse me, and that I want to make, and that’s that.”The nonagenarian — born in 1925 and educated at the Ecole des arts decoratifs de Paris — has been working alone for the past 10 years, ever since her husband and creative ally of over half a century, Francois-Xavier Lalanne, died in 2008. The two began to work in tandem as of 1956, although their sculptures and objects always remained independently signed and aesthetically distinctive.They had their first joint gallery exhibition in 1964; at the time, they lived in the squalid but vibrant Impasse Ronsin near Montparnasse, surrounded by an art coterie that spanned Constantin Brancusi, Max Ernst, Yves Klein, Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely.Distinguishing between relationship versus individual was of little consequence to the two, and the couple’s legacy is framed as a single unit: Les Lalanne. (“Unlike Claes Oldenburg and his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, the Lalannes did not collaborate so much as co-create,” as The Economist put it.) “It was natural; we lived together and worked together,” Claude Lalanne stated. “It was a very masculine world, so it was hard sometimes, but it was fine.”She continued: “we liked what we did,” noting that while they never expressly sought to make anything clever, “a sense of humor was built into our approach to life.” She added: “there was a lot of spontaneity.”He was known for turning animal menageries into practicable pieces — a hippo-cum-desk, a sheep- cum-chair — and she for molding and electroplating apples, cabbages, and leaves. While their work went in and out of fashion, there’s no question their reputation has been renewed within the past decade.Claude Lalanne’s bronze Crocodile bureau, which was based on a veritable dead crocodile recuperated from the Paris zoo, fetched $2.2 million at Sotheby’s in December 2017 (over four times its estimate).Claude Lalanne’s work has also doubled as the cover of a 1976 Serge Gainsbourg album (“L’Homme a Tete de Chou,” or “The Man with the Cabbage Head”) and her gilt metal castings — working off model Verushka’s lithe bust — were incorporated into Yves Saint Laurent’s 1969 autumn-winter Empreintes collection, overlaying chiffon dresses. By then, Saint Laurent had already commissioned the other Lalanne to make him an unparalleled rectilinear bar cart — in nickel-plated brass with an ovoid metal bottle rack, a spherical ice bucket, a cylindrical crystal vase, propped on four steel legs — for the Parisian living quarters the designer shared with Pierre Berge on Place Vauban. The iconic item eventually migrated to their library on rue de Babylone, until it was sold during the estate sale of the late designer's possessions in 2009 at Christie’s.Suzy Menkes described a “playful waltz between the two artists” when reviewing their exhibition at Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 2010. The 150-piece showcase highlighted their technical craftsmanship and decorative flair, displayed by theme. Architect Peter Marino, who dreamed up the scenography for the exhibition, was a friend and dedicated collector of their work even before he orchestrated this show. Marino is, moreover, one of many high-profile fans, including designer Tom Ford, international art patron Pauline Karpidas and gallerist Ben Brown.The latter is in fact currently presenting “Les Lalanne” (on view through January 25, 2019) at his eponymous Ben Brown Fine Arts in London, in a self-described “fantastical tea party-like setting.”Amongst the 60 works by the couple, there are Claude Lalanne’s “Chaise Feuilles Bambou,” 2009/2017, and “Chaise aux Branchettes,” 1996/2010, mounted on the walls, plus a handmade silver cutlery service with references to the natural elements like twigs and petals. There is also a rarely-exhibited series of body molds created in 1975 that echo the Yves Saint Laurent collaboration. Francois-Xavier Lalanne’s signature nubby “Mouton de Laine,” 1965-1974, is joined by his “Petit Chien Heroique” (dog duo Bibi and Loulou).While many art and design pieces tend to have a kind of haute formality built into them, the Lalannes’ production conveyed none of that remoteness. “Their work has crossed boundaries between artists and artisans,” Jeremy Morrison, European head of Design, once stated in a video for Christie’s. “They wanted their works to be in an interior, to be used.”This article appears in the January 2019 edition of BlouinShop magazine.https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more