François-Xavier Lalanne

Acquired from artiste by the present owner's parents in 1997

Private collection, Paris

Claude et François-Xavier Lalanne : fragments, exhibition catalogue, Galerie Enrico Navarra and JGM. Galerie, April – May 2000, p. 22-23

François-Marie Banier and Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand, Claude et François-Xavier Lalanne, La Maison-Atelier de Claude et François Lalanne, Montreuil, 2018, p. 36

JGM Gallery, Paris, 22 may 1992

Marisa del Re Gallery, Living Art Gallery, Milan, 13 october 1993

This lot is sold with a certificate of authenticity from the artist dated 18 February 1997

Capricorne I by François-Xavier Lalanne is an important work made by the sculptor. An identical model with a similar brown patina occupied a special place in the artists' home, standing in front of the fireplace in their living room in Ury, and welcoming the couple's friends and collectors from the moment it was conceived in 1988. Our Capricorn I, made in 1991, symbolises the creative genius of François-Xavier Lalanne and his attraction to Greek mythology, which he discovered while working as a guard at the Louvre in 1949. From the Latin capricornus "horned goat’" it is the animal that fed Zeus during his childhood. According to legend, one of his horns broke and the nymphs filled it with fruit for Zeus. This is where the expression "horn of plenty" comes from.

Capricorn I reflects both François-Xavier Lalanne's poetic imagination and his attraction to ancient myths, making this work a bridge between art and legend, imbued with symbolism and creativity.