Selection of Modernist Art Lithographs or Serigraphs

Combining abstract surrealism and biomorphic imagery into a distinctive style, Calder has become one of the 20th Century’s most iconic and important artists. Besides sculptures, Calder was also prolific in other art forms. He produced jewelry, tapestry and stage designs, as well as drawings, oil paintings, water colors, etchings, lithographs and serigraphs. Born in Philadelphia in 1898 Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) was a monumental artist. He invented the mobile, and airy, hanging structure connected by wires that are set in motion by the wind. These mobiles tremendously influenced the art world. Calder’s versions celebrated form and color, with simplicity and profundity. As a trained engineer, began to practice as a freelance artist after attending New York’s Art Students League. Calder was strongly inspired circus spectacle, and thus constructed entertaining mobiles often accompanied by music. Producing dynamic yet playful mobile sculptures, Calder dismissed the formal structures of art and redefined its infinite possibilities.

François-Xavier Lalanne was born in 1927 in Agen. After the war, he moved to Paris where he studied at the Académie Julian to become a painter. On the occasion of his first exhibition at the Cimaise Gallery in Paris in 1952, Lalanne met Claude Dupeux (Lalanne), his future wife. After meeting her, he gave up painting and started working with her. 

The first joint exhibition for Claude and François-Xavier, titled "Zoophite," took place in 1964 at the J. Gallery. They revealed their creations — hybrids of sculptures and everyday objects. In 1966, they introduced themselves under the name Les Lalanne. 

The two artists each created their own works but shared a common universe inspired by the animal and plant world and often exhibited together.

François-Xavier invented a bestiary composed of monkeys, rhinos, donkeys, camels, toads, hippos and cats. Among them, the sheep was undoubtedly his favorite animal. Alone or in a flock, with or without a head, sheathed in the fleece of sheep or not, his sheep sculptures can also constitute seats. His will, shared by Claude, was to desacralize the sculpture to give it a familiar dimension.

François-Xavier and Claude are also known for their public commissions. For example, in France, François-Xavier created two concrete pigeons in the city of Grande-Borne in Grigny, and Les Pleureuses (“The Mourners”) is a monumental fountain created in 1986 by the couple that was installed at the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan. 

The work of Les Lalanne is exhibited throughout the world, presented in both galleries and museums. The retrospective organized in 2010 by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is one of the last major exhibitions of the duo. 

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(Biography provided by Bailly Gallery Geneva-Paris)