Viewing Les Lalanne: Makers of Dreams

Now’s your chance to see a magical menagerie by François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, known collectively as Les Lalanne. Installed across Ben Brown Fine Arts and the newly opened Claridge’s ArtSpace, Makers of Dreams brings together nearly 100 works by Les Lalanne that encapsulate the couple’s exuberant combination of witty surrealism and functionality.

As you meander through the exhibition, you’ll encounter both familiar and lesser-known works, including François-Xavier’s life-size hippopotamus bathtub in blue resin, Claude’s fanciful gingko tables and chairs as well as her widely celebrated golden apple. You’ll also see one of only two examples of François-Xavier’s 1970 grasshopper bar and four iterations of Claude’s Choupatte, a bronzed cabbage standing on chicken legs.

From the beginning of their partnership Les Lalanne, who met in 1952 and married fifteen years later, blurred the lines between functional design, sculpture and decorative art. Though they shared a studio and an interest in nature, they had distinctive styles: François-Xavier focused on the angularity of animals, Claude on botanical forms and the textures of flora and fauna.

‘Their work has become renowned the world over,’ says Ben Brown, who has exhibited Les Lalanne for nearly two decades. ‘The ways in which these artists created such discombobulating yet beautiful contradictions are part of their enduring appeal.’