François-Xavier LALANNE (1927-2008). Lamp " Pigeon ". Patinated copper and opal glass reflector, stamped with the monogram " FXL ", edition stamp Artcurial, and numbered 739/900. Circa 1991. Height : 20 20 - Width : 14 - Length : 27 cm Provenance: Purchased at the Artcurial gallery in Paris by its current owner. Bibliography : Daniel Abadie, Lalanne(s), Paris, Editions Flammarion, 2008, p.131. François-Xavier Lalanne began by studying painting at the Académie Julian. He quickly turned away from it to take an interest in sculpture under the influence of François Pompon and Constantin Brancusi, whose studio adjoined his own at Impasse Ronsin in Paris. In his youth, as a guard at the Louvre Museum, he spent long hours contemplating the sculpture galleries, thus confirming his aspirations. With his wife Claude, they presented their first exhibition at Pierre Restany's gallery in 1964. At the gallery of the pope of New Realism, they exhibited hybrid works at the crossroads between sculpture and furniture; a rhinoceros revealing a desk or a sardine can bed. It was no longer the time for animal sculpture, yet success was immediate. Demystifying sculpture, bringing it into our daily lives and interiors, elevating the art object, this is the goal of François-Xavier Lalanne. In this mantra, the animal world is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. For this nature lover, wildlife is not synonymous with distant lands, the snail of our countryside as the city pigeon are "as wild as a great African beast. This strange bird that comes to lend its forms to a lamp testifies. Standing proudly on its legs, the bird struts and inflates its opaline glass chest protected by bronze wings with a copper patina. With his marvelous and poetic bestiary mixing sculpture and decorative art, François-Xavier Lalanne demonstrates that there is no hierarchy between the arts.