Smoke and mirrors: Les Lalanne transform Paul Kasmin Gallery into a whimsical world
In 1993 Yves Saint Laurent commissioned the artist Claude Lalanne to create a mirror. The piece, framed by winding water lily leaves and candleholders at the side, stands at nearly 10 ft tall. It would become one of the largest mirrors ever made by Claude, who worked separately from his wife François-Xavier but often presented their work together.
That mirror, along with three new reflective designs – an extension of the hall of mirrors designed by Claude that once lined a section of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Rue Bonaparte library – is currently on display until 22 April in Les Lalanne at Paul Kasmin Gallery’s 10th Avenue space in New York. The exhibition features over 20 works, both new and historical, by the legendary French sculptors.
Claude was particularly drawn to using flora and fauna as a motif in her sculptures. She often looked at her own garden as a source of inspiration, incorporating vines, leaves and flowers into the furniture and sculptures she designed. Along with the new mirrors, created in 2017, the other recent works include a 2009 bronze bureau of a cast crocodile skin. A number of bronze chairs and benches, composed of intersecting bamboo sticks, line the first room of the exhibition, turning it into a showcase of intricately worked furniture that are imbued with a naturalism reminiscent of the Art Nouveau period.
The second presents a whimsical world of fauna made by François-Xavier in full glory; a bronze sculpture of a cow greets passersby in the gallery’s front window. Here, some of Lalanne's animal forms are fused with functional qualities for surrealistic effect: a desk of bronze, leather and wood shaped like a ram grooming itself stands in one corner of the room. Elsewhere, a bar crafted from wood, bronze, stainless steel, and copper humorously takes the form of a hippopotamus, originally designed by François-Xavier in 1976. It wouldn't be a Lalanne show without the famous sheep sculptures, first introduced in 1965 at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris. A trio stand stoically in a corner of the space, while a bronze snail with an arrow on its head mirrors their dream-like appeal just opposite.
'Hippopotame II (bar)', by François-Xavier Lalanne, 2007
INFORMATION
'Les Lalanne' is on view until 22 April. For more information, visit the Paul Kasmin Gallery website
ADDRESS
Paul Kasmin Gallery
293 Tenth Avenue
New York NY 10001
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Remembering Richard Serra (1938-2024), American art’s man of steel
American artist Richard Serra, whose vast sculptures transformed landscapes around the world, has died aged 85
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Architectural gardens around the world to soothe the soul
From small domestic gardens, to nature reserves, urban interventions and local parks, here are some of the finest green projects that place nature at their heart
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Corfu hotel Domes Miramare redefines beachfront bliss
Make like Jackie O at Corfu hotel Domes Miramare, a property with contemporary luxury and echoes of 1960s glamour in spades
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Damien Hirst takes over Château La Coste
Damien Hirst’s ‘The Light That Shines’ at Château La Coste includes new and existing work, and takes over the entire 500-acre estate in Provence
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Tia-Thuy Nguyen encases Chateau La Coste oak tree in tonne of stainless steel strips
Tia-Thuy Nguyen’s ‘Flower of Life’ lives in the grounds of sculpture park and organic winery Château La Coste in France
By Harriet Quick Published
-
Paris art exhibitions: a guide to exhibitions this weekend
As Emily in Paris fever puts the city of love at the centre of the cultural map, stay-up-to-date with our guide to the best Paris art exhibitions
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Cyprien Gaillard on chaos, reorder and excavating a Paris in flux
We interviewed French artist Cyprien Gaillard ahead of his major two-part show, ‘Humpty \ Dumpty’ at Palais de Tokyo and Lafayette Anticipations (until 8 January 2023). Through abandoned clocks, love locks and asbestos, he dissects the human obsession with structural restoration
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Remembering Pierre Soulages (1919-2022), a pioneer of post-war abstraction
Pierre Soulages, the pioneering French printmaker, sculptor and ‘painter of black’, has died aged 102
By Diane Theunissen Published
-
Reclaim the Earth, urge artists at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo
We discover the group exhibition ‘Reclaim the Earth’, a wake-up call for humans to reconsider our relationship with the planet (until 4 September 2022)
By Amy Serafin Last updated
-
Jason Boyd Kinsella’s curious portraits dissect the architecture of human
Based on the Myers-Briggs personality test, Jason Boyd Kinsella’s new portrait series, on show at Perrotin in Paris, examines the building blocks of human existence
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Last updated
-
Kader Attia dissects multiculturalism, colonialism and capitalism in Doha show
Kader Attia addresses postcolonial trauma and the need for psychiatric repair in a new show, ‘On Silence', at Doha's Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art
By TF Chan Last updated