This season, the highlight of the sale will be La Grande Ourse, created in 2001 by François-Xavier Lalanne and purchased directly from the artist by the present owner.
With La Grande Ourse, François-Xavier Lalanne lends the animal a presence that is at once monumental and familiar. Whether surrounded by lush vegetation or set within a winter landscape, the bear seems less placed within its setting than integrated into it.
The bear is part of the animal repertoire that François-Xavier developed throughout his career. The artist created subjects in different sizes and versions, playing with the scale and physical presence of each sculpture. Petite Ourse, dated 2000 and measuring 50 cm (19 in.) in height, from the same Seoul private collection, will also be offered in this sale. At the other end of the scale, a monumental version dated 2015 was sold by Sotheby’s Paris in 2019 as part of the sale L’Univers Lalanne - Collection Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne. These variations allowed the artist to transform the perception of the same subject and renew its dialogue with its surroundings. With its instantly recognizable silhouette and quiet presence, La Grande Ourse exemplifies François-Xavier Lalanne’s approach to translating the animal world into sculptural form. The result is a work imbued with poetry and humour, whose presence is expressed as much through its lines as through its relationship with its surroundings.
Sotheby’s is honored to present a selection of works from the collection of Princesse Diane de Beauvau-Craon. A selection that transcends the boundaries between disciplines, bridging the worlds of design and the personal mementos of her friendships with Karl Lagerfeld, Jacques de Bascher or Robert Mapplethorpe.
The scenography for the collection will be designed by the french interior designer Vincent Darré.
Born surrounded by sumptuous furniture and objects but with great classicism, I swore to myself, child, to encounter the unexpected and the unusual in my life settings. I left Paris at 17 and pitched my tent in New York where I became Halston’s muse but at the same time, Andy Warhol’s little sister. Robert Mapplethorpe introduced me to the photography. Then in Morocco I discovered with Bill Willis, under the starry sky of Marrakech, the Marvels of Moroccan craftsmanship. Suddenly in New Orleans I asked Mario Villa to draw a bronze bed for me, or in Venice between a deserving husband and a newborn lover I discovered her musk decadence of old palaces that sank into the lagoon. Finally, in Naples, at the foot of the Chartreuse de San Martino, facing Capri, I was creating my ideal apartment, heterogeneous, chandeliers Moroccan, photos of Karl Lagerfeld and Mapplethorpe on the walls, paintings by Riccardo Mosner playing with Mexican papier-mache skeletons planted on Nicolas Heurtaut’s armchairs.
My devouring curiosity for adventure and fun, local cultures, the holes of curiosity of the end of the world, have built me a setting for life that allows me to travel continuously in the landscapes and the mansions I loved. I selected a sample of my eclectic tastes that represents a glimpse of my desires, of my encounters with fans of curiosity cabinets, with friends who, like me, have the taste for travel, discovery, and a setting that expresses their most diverse interests provided that the object, the piece of furniture, the drawing or the photo that arouses their curiosity has a meaning for their eye warned. I hope this selection will entertain you and make you want to take back some paths along which I have had so much fun and learned.
Princesse Diane de Beauvau-Craon
The Important Design sale will highlight major names in 1980s and 1990s design, ranging from the baroque aesthetic of André Dubreuil and the poetic sensibility of Hubert Le Gall to the whimsical creations of Gaetano Pesce. This exceptionally prolific period of design is showcased this season through works from a French private collection, the centerpiece of which is the unique "Batman" cabinet by André Dubreuil.
