On the first edition of Design Miami Paris, Galerie Mitterrand will bring together works by the artist couple François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne. The exhibition will feature a masterpiece by François-Xavier Lalanne, l'Âne Attelé, conceived in 1989, as well as a unique Choupatte by Claude Lalanne from the 1960s.
The donkey is a key figure in François-Xavier Lalanne's bestiary, having accompanied the artist's career from the 1970s until his death. The very first donkey, entitled Âne de Pompadour, was created by the artist for friends in 1973. This humorous, poetic work, part sculpture, part secretary, was as much an allusion to the famous Rhinocrétaire created a few years earlier as to the traditional bureau dos d'Âne (donkey-backed desk) in the classic repertoire of French decorative arts.
This formal game was then repeated several times by François Xavier Lalanne, who created the Âne de Nathalie (2007), based on the 1973 model but this time in bronze; an Âne Bâté (1985), equipped with saddlebags that open to serve as a bookcase or secretary; an Âne Planté (1990), whose saddlebags can be used as planters; and the Âne Attelé, exhibited at Design Miami Paris this year. This donkey was designed for the Georges-Brassens Park in Paris' 15th arrondissement. Equipped with a cart that can also be used as a planter, it was exhibited at the Château de Chenonceau in 1991 and at the Château de Versailles in 2021. Other smaller versions were also created by François-Xavier Lalanne.
Le Choupatte is one of Claude Lalanne's earliest works. It is with this work that the artist expresses her most virtuous use of the galvanoplasty technique, in which cabbage leaves are immersed in an electrolytic bath to obtain copper imprints. A Choupatte was presented at the artists' first exhibition at Jeanine Restany's Galerie J in 1964. A few years later, Claude Lalanne produced this Choupatte for her gallerist Alexandre Iolas, and it was acquired by an American collection.
These exceptional works will be accompanied by other major works by the couple, including a Paire de Singes Alternatifs, the essential Singe Allumé and a Lanterne.
