Some trends last longer than others, even in a fragmented art market. One of the most notable ones over the last year has been a spike in the market for François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, whose whimsical sculptures of animals and plants have been the subject of nine-minute bidding wars, generating sale prices that often far exceed these works’ high estimates.
The prices for sculptures by these artists—also known as Les Lalanne—have grown dramatically, with four of the top 10 sales at auction for works by François-Xavier taking place last year, most of them at Christie’s in New York, according to data analysis by ARTnews.
Related Articles
That rise has been 15 years in the making, according to Edith Dicconson, co-executive director of New York’s Kasmin gallery, which has represented Les Lalanne in the US since 2007.
“Lalanne appeals to everybody, which is amazing. And I think a lot more connoisseurship has come to light,” Dicconson told ARTnews. “I think all of that connoisseurship coming out now is really helping to also find new collectors.”
“In the end,” she said, “once you get one in the room, you start to want more.”
François-Xavier Lalanne‘s Très Grand Ours (2009) sold for $6.1 million on October 10, 2024 at Christie’s in New York.
Courtesy Christie’s
Wendy Cromwell, an art advisor and a member of the Association of Professional Art Advisors told ARTnews that the French couple’s sculptures have broken out of the categories of furniture and design into fine art in a manner similar to works by Swiss sculptor and designer Diego Giacometti.
“There’s been a movement to include design into the fine art collecting categories, and Lalanne, more than anyone, has shown us and proved [this] to us, along with others,” Cromwell said. “Giacometti furniture is not inexpensive, but I think Lalanne has really taken it to a whole new level.”
Experts told ARTnews that recent prices at auctionand in private sales have been bolstered by the broad appeal to a wide range of collectors, particularly because of Les Lalanne’s historical connections to Surrealism. (Lalanne was introduced to Man Ray, Max Ernst, and other Surrealists by sculptor Constantin Brancusi, who the couple lived near and were close to.)
Most peg 2009 as the beginning of the shift in the market for Les Lalanne. Even amid that year’s recession, a sale of 10 works by Les Lalanne from French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé at Christie’s in Paris yielded €7.6 million euros ($9.8 million), more than 38 times its total high estimate of €198,000 ($253,000).
The US market for private sales of Les Lalanne gained momentum in the following years as Kasmin put on outdoor exhibitions on Park Avenue in 2009, at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Florida in 2011, and in a Chelsea gas station, where it mounted the “Sheep Station” show in 2012.
The market for Les Lalanne has continued to rise throughout the years since, even as the couple’s large production volume meant that hundreds of works hit the auction block during that period. Between 2019 and 2024, Sotheby’s and Christie’s sold more than 700 pieces from the private collections of Les Lalanne and their two daughters, Dorothée and Marie during various sales in Paris and New York. The sales set several records and yielded a nominal total of $330.2 million.
Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s global head of design, said the house’s Paris sale “L’Univers Lalanne,” featuring 274 works from the couple’s private collection in 2019, was transformative and a turning point in becoming a “gateway” for many new collectors to become attracted to and engaged in the Lalanne market for the first time. “There were hundreds of people participating in that auction that had never bid before on Lalanne, or even bid before at Sotheby’s,” Pollack said.
However, Ben Walker, global head of modern decorative art and design at Bonham’s New York, cautioned that the Les Lalanne market may be overheated.
“I’ve probably been saying in the back of my mind for a good few years that it’s due a correction, most notably because I think there was so much Lalanne out there,” Walker told ARTnews, observing that buyers have seemed to be less discerning about factors for “A+ works” like good patina, limited edition, and castings made while the artists were alive.
“With the Lalanne market, it doesn’t seem to matter,” he added. “I don’t think it’s negative. I think it really is an indication about how strong the market is. People will just go for the name.”
Kasmin’s Dicconson said that new and younger collectors of Lalanne typically fall into two types: decorators and true connoisseurs. The latter group asks a lot of questions about an item’s provenance, condition, and edition number, as well as any restoration work done. And these connoisseurs, according to Dicconson, drive bids for notable pieces like ‘Hippopotame II’ Bar (1978), which sold for $7.6 million at Christie’s in May 2023.
Even amid the headline sale results, Sotheby’s Pollack has observed pricing for specific types of Lalanne sculptures shifting, especially for François-Xavier’s life-size Mouton works, depicting sheep and made of concrete and wool. “The pricing for both of those is certainly off from their market highs,” she said. “I think if you look at models that are coming up with greater frequency, you will see that most of those prices are actually trending lower.”
From Christie’s New York display for the sale of Collection Dorothée Lalanne in October 2024.
Photo Brian Ferry/Courtesy Christie’s
Still, top works continue to exceed estimates. Prior to last November’s evening sale for the Sydell Miller collection, Pollack expected that the grand sculptural table Troupeau d’Éléphants dans les Arbres (2001) by François-Xavier would sell well beyond its high estimate of $6 million. After more than two dozen bids from Pollack and three other Sotheby’s specialists on the phones, it sold for $11.6 million with fees, marking the second-highest price for the artist at auction.
The eight-figure price on Troupeau d’Éléphants, according to Dicconson, was driven by the piece’s rare and unusual nature—it weighs more than 2,200 pounds and features a total of seven sculptures by François-Xavier. “You’ve got almost a theater of elephants there that you can place in any way you want,” she said. “I can’t think of another piece of Lalanne like that.”
And while the one sold by Sotheby’s was the second in an edition of eight, only five such works were ultimately made. Miller’s ownership also brought a considerable amount of extra attention. “It was frothy from the beginning, and then you’ve got this super rare piece,” Dicconson said. “And then you get a couple of people on the phone, and there it goes.”
In terms of how Les Lalanne’s market will perform this year, Dicconson told ARTnews that even with the recent drops in the stock market, she still has a list of people looking for rare, top-end items she can’t find.
“People are still looking around,” she said. “So I would say that the market is still quite healthy.”
Another factor that may extend the sales momentum is whether the supply of works from the family and estates becomes a little bit scarcer. “Maybe that would make the prices go even higher,” Walker said.
