François-Xavier Lalanne's 'Fontaine Pleureuse' is featured in our Design Auction on 13 November 2024 in London.

Renowned for their imaginative Surrealist concepts that blend playful narratives with deeper, profound reflections, François-Xavier’s works are cherished for their ability to effortlessly merge natural animal and human forms anthropomorphically. The innovative compositions, filled with whimsical irreverence, provide playful commentaries on the human experience. While many of Lalanne's creations, including those produced in collaboration with his wife Claude (known collectively as Les Lalanne), evoke a light-hearted tone, the present 'Fontaine Pleureuse' stands out as a poignant expression of sorrow, offering a rare subject for the artist — a glimpse into the realm of melancholy.

A quintessential example of the husband-and-wife duo’s synergy in creative collaboration, here François-Xavier has expanded on one of Claude’s existing designs, La Dormeuse. The copper sculpture of a sleeping woman’s head topped with a crown of botanical hair inspired François-Xavier to take on a more literal interpretation of the foliage with the integration of living ivy instead of cast vines, with the addition of flowing water to the eyes for tears to transform Claude’s sleeping figure into a weeping fountain. With characteristic astuteness as a skilled observer of the human condition and empowered by a talent for materially capturing its subtleties and nuances, Lalanne’s 'Fontaine Pleureuse' empathetically provides an environment for viewers to quietly contemplate and savor the bittersweetness of sorrow.

A recurring theme within the repertoire of Les Lalanne, the present lot features an inclusion of natural elements to bring a quality of organic vitality to the piece. While inherently static in her stone format, the stoicism is softened by the integration of ivy onto the head as hair, and the gentle movement of water. These dynamic elements lend a nurturing quality to the inherent melancholy, providing the viewer with a comforting and contemplative presence, with the inclusion of ivy encouraging one to confront and accept the perpetual passage of time. Since the late 1970s, Lalanne had begun to play with the incorporation of vegetation into his outdoor sculptures to harmonize them into their intended settings. The use of proprietary epoxy stone, a mixture of stone aggregate and resin, is demonstrative of the Lalannes’ experimentation and ingenuity with material manipulation, showing a dedication to innovative creative process through departure from traditional sculpting techniques.

This confidence in the employment of unprecedented fabrication techniques is very likely a fortunate byproduct of Lalanne’s long-standing friendship and mentorship from the Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, who was well-known and admired for his own avant-garde methods for his sculptures. The two artists had studios next door to one another in Montparnasse during the last decade of Brancusi’s life, and both François-Xavier and Claude enjoyed a long and inspiring friendship with the older Romanian sculptor, who imparted a wealth of knowledge to the pair of younger artists. The serene visage of the 'Fontaine Pleureuse', with its minimalist features echoing the purity of Classical sculpture, pays homage to Lalanne's artistic lineage and the enduring legacy of Brancusi's timeless aesthetic. Through his masterful manipulation of materials and profound exploration of human emotions, François-Xavier Lalanne's 'Fontaine Pleureuse' serves as a poignant meditation on the complex beauty of melancholy, inviting viewers to engage with the artwork on a deeply personal and introspective level.