Claude Lalanne
(French, 1924–2019)
Biography
Claude Lalanne was a French sculptor and designer most widely known for her work in the collaborative duo Les Lalanne with her husband, François-Xavier Lalanne. Claude Lalanne’s personal work often manifested itself in the form of decorative flora and fauna, drawing from Surrealism and Art Nouveau in her furniture pieces. The artist also created jewelry which were often molded from twisted flowers, leaves, and branches made in copper and gilt bronze. Her unique style of decorative design and fine art resonated with the fashion world with many of her pieces collected by leading fashion designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, the only artist he ever collaborated with throughout his career. Born Claude Dupeux in 1924 in Paris, France, Lalanne studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts and the École des Arts Décoratifs. She and her husband François-Xavier, who died in 2008, began working side by side during the early 1950s, creating design objects, including their famous sheep, under the business moniker Les Lalanne achieving both commercial and critical success. The school of Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris mounted a retrospective of the couple in 2010. Today, the work of Les Lalanne can be found in the collections of the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. The artist died on April 10, 2019 in Fontainebleau, France.
Claude Lalanne
(2,301 results)