Claude Lalanne

Iolas-Galerie, Zomboulakis, Athens

Acquired from above by present owner

Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Les Lalanne, Christian Fayt Art Gallery, Knokke-Heist, 1984, n. 27 for similar cast

Daniel Abadie, Lalanne(s): The Monograph, Flammarion, Paris, 2008, p. 69 for earlier example in gilded silver

Louisa Guinness, Art as Jewellery: From Calder to Kapoor, ACC Art Books, Suffolk, 2018, p. 79 for early example

To come into being, Claude Lalanne for Zolotas Silver Necklace required her gallerist Alexander Iolas to introduce her to Zolotas, the oldest and best of Greek jewelers of the time. Lalanne was already making jewelry at home but experimented on a small selection of pieces with Zolotas, including her lip chokers, like this one, in precious metals. The mold for these lips is believed to come from fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who observed, ‘What touches me is how she brings together the same high standard of craftsmanship and poetry. Those beautiful sculptor‘s hands seem to push aside the mists of mystery to reach the shores of art.’