“The supreme art is the art of living.”
Since being commissioned by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in the 1960’s for their Paris apartment, the husband and wife artists, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne have created a series of whimsical and surreal sculptures usually based on either animal or vegetable themes, in which the boundaries of fine and decorative arts are beautifully blurred. Today, the work of Le Lalanne has a passionate following amongst interior and fashion giants alike (Jacques Grange, Peter Marino, Marc Jacobs, not to mention Serge Gainsborough, whose 1976 purchase of a man with a cabbage head gave the couple widespread recognition in France), as well as belonging to important public collections around the world.
I just love the idea of sculpture also being furniture, perhaps why I’m so drawn to sculptural furniture and lighting. I could literally live in a room containing nothing more than a bed, a bookcase, a Beni Ouarain rug (of course!) and Lalanne’s 1966 Rhinoceros desk.
It appears I’m not alone in my love of Les Lalanne’s sculpture-furniture – In December 2012, Sotheby’s New York sold a pair of the sheep stool-sculptures, just like those commissioned by Saint-Laurent and Bergé, for $542,000.