artist feature: les lalannes sheep
Emily Oster
A couple of days ago, I was scrolling through the new Lonny issue when I came across a flock of sheep. Yes - sheep, a beautiful herd of sculpted sheep by the husband and wife artist duo of Francois-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) and Claude Lalanne (b.1924). Creating works under the name of Les Lalannes, the duo collaborated to create surrealist pieces that often reference animals and the botanical. The flocks of bronze and wool sheep are new to me but I have seen images of their other most iconic piece - the rhino desk.
The sheep are by far my favorite of their works. I think they would be amazing in any setting especially if there were multiples - sort of like these examples.
Seeing as a singular sheep goes for the hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, I don't think I will ever be able to have a flock of my own. However, REMODELISTA did a feature about stand-ins for the "elusive Lalanne sheep sculptures" and while surely not the same could be pretty amazing. These are my favorite - $375 each.