LONDON.- On 24 May, Sotheby’s Important Design auction will offer a panorama of creations from the early 20th century to the present day. Testament to the intersection of art and design, art historian, jewellery designer and granddaughter of Pablo Picasso, Diana Widmaier Picasso has guest-curated the auction.

Major artists from across each of the key periods of design – from Art Nouveau through to Contemporary – will star in the sale, including Pierre Chareau, Jean-Michel Frank, Alberto and Diego Giacometti, Paul Dupré-Lafon, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Jean Royère, Gio Ponti, Martin Szekely and Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne. The sale will also feature a French private collection of Picasso ceramics.

Among the star lots are several major creations by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne intended to populate parks and gardens: from Claude’s oversized apple to François-Xavier’s unique Canard flotant (exhibited at the Château de Versailles in 2021) and a rare set of five Oies sauvages in patinated bronze. Offering just under 50 works by the beloved artist duo, this marks the most important offering in a various-owner auction.
 
SPOTLIGHT ON LES LALANNES

“The work of Les Lalannes is extremely moving, and the animal motif is an essential part of their artistic vocabulary. Their entire oeuvre consists of provoking aesthetic encounters between various forms – mixing universal symbols, poetry and refinement.”
Diana Widmaier Picasso

Claude Lalanne, La Pomme de Londres, 2007, bronze with gold patina, 127x110x110cm
(estimate: €700,000 – 1,000,000)

The sale will be led by one of Claude Lalanne’s most recognisable works: La Pomme de Londres. At once familiar and unexpected, Lalanne’s apple perfectly encapsulates the artist’s fantastical creations and builds on the longstanding art historical tradition of depicting this fruit. The softness and roundness of the apple’s exterior evokes the oeuvre of Constantin Brancusi – a close friend of Les Lalannes, and neighbour from their early days in Paris – as well as one of René Magritte’s most famous Surrealist masterpieces, depicting an oversized apple engulfing the interior of a small room.

Rare to auction, this piece was designed for both indoor and outdoor display – its artistic power working equally within a home and amongst nature. Inside, the apple is strikingly whimsical and dreamlike, and integrated into a natural landscape, the smooth surface and golden tone comes alive. Examples of Claude Lalanne’s apples exhibited outdoors in recent years include on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, at the Château de Versailles, the Domaine du Muy in the South of France, and indeed, a smaller model of this exact work in Claude’s own garden in Ury. Most recently, last month, Tiffany & Co. unveiled a Pomme by Lalanne on the rooftop of its flagship store in New York.

François-Xavier Lalanne, Canard Flottant, 1998, 135 x 63 x 208 cm (estimate: €200,000 – 300,000)

The figure of the bird is omnipresent in François-Xavier’s work, and the duck in particular holds a particularly special place in his oeuvre. This unique and monumental piece is the culmination of the artist’s extensive exploration of the subject, who had imagined his duck in myriad ways that were never realised. The simplified form and pure lines are a precursor to contemporary artists, namely Jeff Koons, and the piece is the perfect showcase of the artist’s humorous edge – transforming a bath toy into an extraordinary sculpture, placed on historic water features in the Parc de Bagatelle (1998), the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (2010) and most recently in the Trianon of Versailles (2021).

François-Xavier Lalanne, Oies sauvages, 1999 (estimate: €500,000 – 700,000)

Originally from the southwest of France, Lalanne was asked by several cities in the region to create public commissions celebrating their heritage. In 1992, the city of Sarlat commissioned a sculpture of three geese – the symbol of the city, whose main trade was that of geese – to be placed in the ‘Place du marché aux oies’. The artist later developed these into a set of five proudly upstanding wild geese, each in a different position. Often presented individually, it is rare to find them all together, as originally imagined by the artist.
 
TRAVERSING THE KEY MOVEMENTS IN DESIGN




The sale will offer major pieces from the masters of French Art Deco, most notably works by Marcel Coard, Pierre Chareau, Jean-Michel Frank, Alberto Giacometti, Maurice Marinot and Gustave Miklos. Among the highlights is a desk by Marcel Coard, circa 1930 (estimate: €80,000 – 120,000) formerly in the collection of André Lefevre, alongside a rose quartz lamp by Jean-Michel Frank, circa 1925 (estimate: €120,000 – 180,000).

Both Diego and Alberto Giacometti are also well represented in the sale, with two emblematic creations:

Diego Giacometti, Table Carcasse à la chauve-souris, patinated bronze (estimate: €240,000-280,000)

“This is an iconic and particularly poetic work. The material lends the object an extreme lightness and unites the power of architectural and painterly forms. The geometric lines and decorative details of the table evoke both the ancient world, as well as the plant and animal kingdom. The drawings of the bats seem to come alive. Diego Giacometti's work is something I really admire, with its dual decorative and functional dimensions, as he fulfils the role of a sort of sculptor-craftsman.”
Diana Widmaier Picasso

Alberto Giacometti, Masque aux serpents, patinated bronze (estimate: €100,000-150,000)

“While most representations of the myth of Medusa are violent, Alberto Giacometti offers a beautiful and serene vision of the Gorgon, with sinuous curves. Originally intended as a wall lamp, this fascinating work has been turned into a sculpture.” --Diana Widmaier Picasso

Moving to masterworks of the 1950s, the sale presents important works by Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Serge Mouille and Georges Jouve. Crafted in 1952, Charlotte Perriand’s Bibliothèque Maison du Mexique (estimate: €120,000-180,000), designed for the striking and immediately distinguishable mid-century student residence Maison du Mexique at Cité Universitaire, Paris.

“Charlotte Perriand's works continue to be as striking as ever. They are a symbol of women's liberation, a manifesto of the freedom they aspire to through technical progress.” ---Diana Widmaier Picasso

At the heart of the auction is a focus on Italian Design, with a rare example of Gio Ponti’s Proteo lamp, 1967 (estimate: €20,000 – 30,000), an elegantly curved example of his architectonic forms.

A further focus is important pieces from the 1960s, by Jean Garçon, Pierre Paulin, Etienne Fermigier and Ado Chale. Jean Garçon was a major designer of the 60s and 70s, known for his graphic use of steel in furniture, and the sale offers three lots from an apartment decorated by Martine Dufour. Dufour also decorated Karl Lagerfeld’s apartment, where similar lounge chairs and stools by Garçon were placed alongside Art Deco and Lalanne.

Contemporary design is led by Marc Newson’s Event Horizon table, 1992 (estimate: €120,000-180,000).
 
PICASSO AT MADOURA

In 1946, Picasso met the founders of the Madoura workshop in Vallauris and made his very first ceramics. This sparked a move to Vallauris, from 1957-1955, and a period of original artistic production as the artist created both unique pieces and editions in a limited number of copies. This joyful creative freedom is fully expressed through seventeen ceramics offered from a private collection, bringing together the artist’s favourite themes: bulls, picadors, doves, suns or owls.