Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne: nature transformed

Abstract

"François-Xavier (1927-2008) and Claude (1925-2019) Lalanne were a husband-wife team of artists who created inventive, whimsical works that have been widely admired and collected since the 1960s. This book presents a carefully selected group of objects that focus on a shared preoccupation of the artists: the transformation of natural forms to new purposes, such as François-Xavier's rhinoceros sculpture that opens into a writing desk and Claude's bench made of galvanized metal branches and vines such that it remains as much a forest as a place to sit. Critical analysis explores the full breadth of the artists' careers; offers important historical context for the artists' origins in the Paris art scene of the 1960s; and prompts a reevaluation of the place their art occupies in the context of art museums, all while encouraging readers to consider relationships among nature, art, and their own encounters with both"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Foreword / Olivier Meslay -- Polymorphous dreams: the art and careers of François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne / Kathleen M. Morris -- Catalogue / Kathleen M. Morris.