“Nathalie’s Donkey”, “Très Grand Ours”… Several animals by the now deceased French sculptor François-Xavier Lalanne were sold this Thursday for tens of millions of euros in New York (United States).
A giant bear, a winged rabbit, a rhinoceros, a donkey which serves as a desk: 70 animal sculptures in bronze or stone by the Frenchman François-Xavier Lalanne, a deceased visual artist and posthumous star of the world art market, have been sold for 54 million euros at auction on Thursday in New York, announced Christie’s, which was hoping for 14 to 21 million euros.
At its prestigious headquarters at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, Christie’s auctioned off for four hours models of wild, domestic or imaginary animals, cut and shaped by this sculptor who worked with his wife Claude, also deceased, in their workshop in Fontainebleau to the south. from Paris.
The 70 works for sale were all by François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) and belonged to his daughter Dorothée Lalanne.
The works by Lalanne which broke records in their category were “Très Grand Centaure (2001)” in patinated bronze, which sold for 6.86 million euros, and the monumental “Très Grand Ours (2009)” sold for 5, 58 million euros.
70 works sold
A very original “Nathalie’s Donkey (2005)” in bronze, wood, leather and brass, the center of which opens to form an office, was purchased for 2.38 million euros.
The Lalanne’s price exploded in 2009 during the auctions of the Bergé-Saint Laurent collection with 15 Claude Lalanne mirrors sold for 1.8 million euros.
The following year, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris dedicated a retrospective to the couple, before Christie’s competitor, Sotheby’s, sold a lot of 274 sculptures in 2019 for 91 million euros.
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