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Lot 203 Andy Williams: An American Legend
FRANCOIS-XAVIER LALANNE (1927-2008)
'MOUTONS DE LAINE', A FLOCK OF SHEEP, DESIGNED 1965, EXECUTED 1975
Closed13 June 2013
Price Realised
USD 987,750
More Information
Specialist note
cf. Exhibition catalogue, Les Lalanne, Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, 1975, p. 10 for other illustrated examples;
Exhibition catalogue, Les Lalanne, Château de Chenonceau, 1991, p. 57 and 99-97 for other illustrated examples;
D. Marchesseau, The Lalannes, Paris, 1998, pp. 36, 41, 58-59 for other illustrated examples; D. Abadie, Lalanne(s), Paris, 2008, pp. 192-195, 231, 299, 303, 305 for other illustrated examples.
In the early 1990s, after admiring a photograph of François-Xavier Lalanne's Moutons de Laine, Andy Williams purchased a flock of six sheep - two ewes and four ottomans (or grazing sheep) - from a woman who had acquired the flock directly from the artist years earlier. Lalanne's Moutons, his best known work, made their first appearance in Paris in 1965. These beguiling and irresistibly tactile sculptures are icons of François-Xavier and his wife Claude's disconcerting, yet seductive magical kingdom of fantastical beasts and luscious plants that established Les Lalanne as preeminent forces of 20th century French art and design. Williams later augmented his flock with a group of Lalanne's subsequent breeds, created with bodies of epoxy stone, allowing them to 'graze' outside regardless of weather. Commenting on the latter acquisition, installed at his Branson, Missouri home, Williams said, "I liked my indoor sheep, and I thought the outdoor sheep would be fun to have on the lawn here. They make me smile."
Exhibition catalogue, Les Lalanne, Château de Chenonceau, 1991, p. 57 and 99-97 for other illustrated examples;
D. Marchesseau, The Lalannes, Paris, 1998, pp. 36, 41, 58-59 for other illustrated examples; D. Abadie, Lalanne(s), Paris, 2008, pp. 192-195, 231, 299, 303, 305 for other illustrated examples.
In the early 1990s, after admiring a photograph of François-Xavier Lalanne's Moutons de Laine, Andy Williams purchased a flock of six sheep - two ewes and four ottomans (or grazing sheep) - from a woman who had acquired the flock directly from the artist years earlier. Lalanne's Moutons, his best known work, made their first appearance in Paris in 1965. These beguiling and irresistibly tactile sculptures are icons of François-Xavier and his wife Claude's disconcerting, yet seductive magical kingdom of fantastical beasts and luscious plants that established Les Lalanne as preeminent forces of 20th century French art and design. Williams later augmented his flock with a group of Lalanne's subsequent breeds, created with bodies of epoxy stone, allowing them to 'graze' outside regardless of weather. Commenting on the latter acquisition, installed at his Branson, Missouri home, Williams said, "I liked my indoor sheep, and I thought the outdoor sheep would be fun to have on the lawn here. They make me smile."