François-Xavier Lalanne

Les Lalannes: Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, exh. cat., Marisa del Re Gallery, New York, 1988, front cover

Daniel Marchesseau, Les Lalanne, Paris, 1998, p. 146

Daniel Abadie, Lalanne(s), Paris, 2008, pp. 186-187

Paul Kasmin, Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne, New York, 2012, n.p.

Adrien Dannatt, Les Lalanne, Fifty Years of Work, exh. cat., Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, 2015, pp. 106 and 108

As confirmed with the Atelier Lalanne, the present lot is a rare and likely early version of the Mouton de Pierre that does not include a signature.

First exhibited in 1965 at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris, François-Xavier Lalanne’s Moutons have become synonymous with both taste and irreverence in the worlds of art and design. Possibly his most recognizable body of work, Lalanne’s whimsical wooly sheep began with the French artist wanting to make a statement with something ‘immodest and slightly embarrassing’.

When Lalanne unveiled his first flock in 1965, the 24 functional pieces made of sheepskin and bronze left an indelible impression at the salon. The impetus for the sheep furniture was Lalanne’s desire to bring country life to Paris, a city then on the verge of the May 1968 movement, which was about to shake its conservative core. The success of this first exhibition prompted Lalanne to create additional flocks of moutons throughout the 1970s, specially commissioned for eminent clients such as Alexandre Iolas, Gunther Sachs and the Treilles family. 

In an effort to better equip the sheep for outdoor settings - where they were often installed - Lalanne used epoxy stone, resulting in the series known as the Moutons de Pierre. The extraordinary variety of sheep produced, each one unique in its creative disposition, have contributed to their increasing desirability over time, settling in the homes of prestigious second-generation collectors.