First exhibited in 1965 at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris, François-Xavier Lalanne’s sheep sculptures have become synonymous with both taste and irreverence in the worlds of art and design. What is possibly his most recognizable body of work, Lalanne’s whimsical and woolly sheep began with the French artist wanting to make a statement with something ‘immodest and slightly embarrassing’.

When Lalanne unveiled his first flock over five decades ago, the 24 functional sheep-shaped pieces made of sheepskin and bronze made quite the impression at the Parisian salon. The critic Otto Hahn raved about the exhibition in 1966 in the French journal L’Express, noting that nothing exceptional had been seen there except for Lalanne’s work, which he discussed as furniture: ‘The Salon de la Jeune Peinture nevertheless holds one surprise: François-Xavier Lalanne’s chairs… He has brought an entire flock of sheep. It is the most amazing thing in the show.’

Motivating the conception of his sheep furniture was Lalanne’s desire to bring country life to Paris, a city then on the verge of the May 1968 movement, which was about to shake its conservative core. Certainly part of the Surrealist imagery involved mocking conformity and playfully critiquing the bourgeoisie, whose herd mentality is signified here through the sight of a flock of sheep following each other blindly.

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