Claude Lalanne

Claude Lalanne is a French sculptor and designer. Her career is closely linked to the duo Les Lalanne that she formed with her husband, Francois-Xavier; they shared a poetical and dreamlike universe inspired by the animal and vegetal worlds which built the foundation of their own works.

Claude Lalanne was born in 1924. She grew up surrounded by her musician mother and her father who taught her metal work. She studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs followed by courses in architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In parallel, Claude Lalanne attended drawing classes at the Atelier de la Grande Chaumière and learnt sculpture.

In 1952, she met Francois-Xavier Lalanne, her future husband. First known for their decorative works, they exhibited for the first time their hybrid creations between sculptures and everyday objects in 1964 at Galerie J.

Claude Lalanne’s works are made thanks to the techniques of impression, moulding and electroplating. She is inspired by both plants and human body elements that she transposes into her furniture, sculptures or jewels made out of precious metals. Other works have a more humorous and surreal dimension to them.

From the 1960s, Claude Lalanne’s works start seducing collectors. Her pieces are acquired by some of the greatest collectors such as Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Peter Marino or Jacques Grange. The duo team exhibits all around the world. Their 2010 retrospective organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is one of the last major exhibition of the couple. Last year, the gallerist Jean-Gabriel Mitterand dedicated a personal exhibition to Claude Lalanne, who died in Fontainebleau on April 10^th 2019.