Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne: In the Domain of Dreams

The Lalannes' charming, dreamy, and surrealistic body of functional sculptures, once a guarded secret for exclusive collectors such as Yves Saint Laurent and the Agnellis, is celebrated in full in this stunning new book.

The legendary husband-and-wife artist team has been the inspiration for high-society collectors and decorators, such as Pierre Bergé, Serge Gainsbourg, Peter Marino, Jane Holzer, and Reed Krakoff for over five decades. Crossing over many audiences - from interior design to fine art to high society, the works of the Lalannes have aspirational yet broad appeal. Their surreal flock of sheep sculpture is now de rigeur for any important collection, while their functional hippopotamus wet bar sells for millions of dollars at auction. Highly collected and promoted by an important group of art insiders, Lalanne works are often the focus of the well-curated room, as seen in many magazine covers. This book on their work will appeal to decorators, designers, artists, and all those who love beautiful art objects.

Adrian Dannatt is a writer, editor, and curator. He is the author of catalogues on the work of Robert Indiana and Mattia Bonetti, and writes regularly for international art journals.

Francois-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) was born in Agen, France. He studied sculpture at the Academie Julian in Paris. Claude Lalanne (b. 1924) was born in Paris and studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. They participated in the postwar Surrealist art scene in postwar Paris, which had a major effect on their work over the past five decades.