Focus on an unusual bar: The Ostrich Bars by Lalanne

vendredi 18 mai 2018

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Ostrich bars, François-Xavier Lalanne, Sèvres, Cité de la céramique

(C) RMN-Grand Palais (Sèvres, Cité de la céramique) / Tony Querrec/(C) ADAGP, Paris

In November 2017, Sotheby’s broke record sales with one of François-Xavier Lalanne’s Ostrich Bars. The photo agency recently had the opportunity take photos of the copy kept in Sèvres.

Made in the 70s for the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, two of the six copies made by the artist are part of the Sèvres National Ceramics Museum’s collection. One of the two was bought by the president Georges Pompidou for the Elysée where it is still kept.

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Autruches bar, François-Xavier Lalanne,Sèvres, Cité de la céramique

During a photo campaign, our photographer made every effort, using specific lighting, to highlight this unusual object. The session was at times an acrobatic feat to get the most aesthetic views possible.
The Ostriches by Lalanne is a real bar, there are ice cubes in the central egg and bottles are nesting under the ostrich’s wings.

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His ingenuity lied in his ability to create real works of art, but also turn his sculptures into useful everyday items, like this surprising Ostrich bar. When the artist was criticised for this side of his work, he replied: “art, is like life: it shouldn’t be so serious.”