Histoires naturelles. Dation François-Xavier et Claude Lalanne au Musée des Arts Décoratifs

Partners in life and in art, and sublime sculptors considered a unit in the eye of the public, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne were renowned for drawing inspiration from nature and animals in the design of their creations. Often hybrid, their works stir emotion, surprise, and amusement – a poetry cultivated by Surrealism and an artistic vision guided by plays on words, forms, and materials. With this same freedom, the Lalannes also play with the hierarchy of the arts, innovatively bestowing their majestic sculptures with function and purpose. While French public collections include exceptional examples of their works, and ever-more-so thanks to the dation made to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the international scope of their career has also led to the Lalanne’s works featuring prominently in noteworthy private collections around the world.

In France, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs displays a selection of outstanding pieces that highlight the art and career of the Lalannes, including the gold Bouche (Mouth) necklace, the Ronce (Brambles) necklace, a piece of silverware from the Lolas set by Claude Lalanne, the Rhinocrétaire II, a masterpiece by François- Xavier Lalanne, made possible thanks to the generous donation of Gregory and Regina Annenberg Weingarten / GRoW @ Annenberg, and a Crocodile (Crocodile) bench by Claude Lalanne. The Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne Dation is structured around the sixteen works from the dation, offering a combination of unique objet d’art, career milestones, and creations rendered famous by their editions, all in keeping with the age-old mission of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs – “to keep alive in France the culture of the arts which seek to make useful things beautiful.” Displayed on podiums in a minimalist, checkerboard formation, the sixteen works dialogue with pieces from the Permanent Collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, representing a conversation between furniture and decorative arts, the Lalanne’s two greatest artistic interests.

Of the sixteen pieces in the exhibition, nine are the work of François-Xavier Lalanne and include two unique creations: La Mouche (The Fly, 1966-1967) and Hippopotame I (Hippopotamus I, 1966- 1969), which incorporates a sink and a bathtub. These two pieces immediately denote the strong characteristics of François-Xavier Lalanne’s work, his entry into the history of sculpture, a taste for the monumental, and a pronounced sense of poetry and humor.

The dation also incorporates his projects for Têtes Habitables (Inhabitable Heads) from the early 1970s, including two models stemming from collaborative projects with architect Émile Aillaud (b. 1902 – d. 1988), as well as preparatory drawings and iconic sculptures such as Singe Avisé (Wise Monkey, 2010).

Additionally, a set from the series Nouveaux Moutons (New Sheep, 2008), evokes the logical continuation of François-Xavier Lalanne’s research, taking the concept of wooly sheep and adapting them for the outdoors, a focus of exploration late in his career, when he developed a passion for garden art.

The seven works by Claude Lalanne demonstrate her ambition as a sculptor. The artistic signature, in both her thought and execution, shows how the object is detached from a purely decorative state, as seen in her Ginkgo furniture (2010- 2018) composed of a table, a bench and a pair of chairs, all of which echo the aesthetic explorations of the 19^th Century and Art Nouveau, as well as the free and Surrealist imagination of French architect and designer, Emilio Terry (b. 1890 – d. 1969).

Claude Lalanne drew from Surrealism and a broad artistic culture to create L’Homme à la Tête de Chou (The Man with the Cabbage Head, 1968), which inspired French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg (b. 1928 – d. 1991) in the late 1960s, but also Choupatte (Cabbage Feet, 2019), and Pomme (Apple, 2015). Additionally, several preparatory drawings and sketches for key pieces such as Âne Attelé (Harnessed Donkey) and Canard (Duck), as well as Hippopotame (Hippopotamus) by François-Xavier Lalanne and studies for Claude Lalanne’s flatware complete the collection of works.

The Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne Dation presents a highly relevant collection of works by François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne while celebrating their place in the artistic history of the 20^th and early- 21^st centuries. This retrospective, hosted by one of the Lalanne’s greatest historical supporters, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, is a modern-day tribute to François- Xavier and Claude Lalanne and to their contribution to French national patrimony.