{"id":106033,"date":"2025-07-30T23:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T23:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/106033\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T23:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T23:14:10","slug":"new-york-exhibition-pairs-rare-works-by-rene-magritte-and-les-lalannes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/106033\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Exhibition Pairs Rare Works by Ren\u00e9 Magritte and Les Lalannes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThis fall, Di Donna Galleries<\/a> will mount a major exhibition of more than 50 paintings, works on paper, and sculptures by Ren\u00e9 Magritte<\/a> and Les Lalannes in New York in collaboration with the London-based gallery Ben Brown Fine Arts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tOpening on October 8, \u201cMagritte and Les Lalanne: In the Mind\u2019s Garden\u201d will feature rare loans of paintings by the Belgian Surrealist in dialogue with works from the estate of French sculptors Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Lalanne<\/a> and Claude Lalanne.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA show like this has never been done,\u201d gallerist Emmanuel Di Donna told ARTnews. \u201cWith a project like this, where it\u2019s something new, it\u2019s something that\u2019s relevant, and I think that\u2019s something that\u2019s going to be very poetic. I think together, those works will sing together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"An<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to all three artists\u2019 shared sensibility\u2014through a surreal and poetic transformation of the natural world\u2014they were concurrently championed and represented by the legendary gallerist Alexander Iolas in the 1960s. <\/p>\n

\n\tDi Donna told ARTnews discussions for the exhibition first started late last year, but it was put together \u201cfairly fast\u201d due to access to works from the Lalanne family, Di Donna\u2019s long-term involvement in the market for iconic Surrealist works by the Belgian artist, and important private collectors willing to loan pieces. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI know where most Magrittes are,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a phone call or a letter, explaining what we\u2019re doing, you know, what the reasoning behind the show is, and showing a few examples of the works that we already have and how well they work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdding, \u201cPeople always need to see beautiful shows. If they can be part of putting contributing to great show, I think people want to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBen Brown has also represented Les Lalannes for several years, knew the French couple and sculptors personally, and observed how their market continues to expand and attract new buyers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tDi Donna is still working on securing loans of other works in the next few weeks, including ones that have been hidden from public view. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of works that haven\u2019t been seen in museums or anywhere in years,\u201d the gallerist said. \u201cSo I\u2019m excited to show some some works by Magritte that are really special and in conversation with those wonderful Lalannes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Abstracted<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFran\u00e7ois-Xavier Lalanne\u2019s Hippopotame I, 1968\/1998, will be featured in the exhibition \u201cMagritte and Les Lalanne: In the Mind\u2019s Garden\u201d at Di Donna Galleries in October 2025.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Lalanne \/ ADAGP, Paris<\/p>\n

\n\tConfirmed highlights of the exhibition include Magritte\u2019s oil painting\u00a0L\u2019ami intime (1958)<\/a>, which sold for \u00a333.66 million<\/a> last March at Christie\u2019s in London; Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Lalanne\u2019s Hippopotame I\u00a0(1968\/1998), a bright blue 9-foot-long bathtub made of molded polyester resin and brass in the shape of a life-sized hippopotamus; and Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Lalanne\u2019s \u201cSauterelle\u201d Bar (1970)<\/a> made of porcelain, polished brass, and steel in the shape of a large grasshopper which only has two editions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe scale of it just makes it like, it looks like a UFO,\u201d Di Donna said in reference to the \u201cSauterelle\u201d Bar. \u201cIt\u2019s such an amazing creative object.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRen\u00e9 Magritte,\u00a0Empire of Light, 1954. Courtesy of CHRISTIES IMAGES LTD. 2024<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe first show that I did when I opened the gallery in 2011 was a Magritte show,\u201d Di Donna said, noting the catalog cover featured L\u2019empire des lumi\u00e8res (1954), which set a new auction record for the artist when it sold for $121 million at Christie\u2019s 20th century evening sale<\/a> last November.<\/p>\n

\n\tInterest in works by all three artists continues to be strong even in a sluggish art market<\/a>. In May, Magritte\u2019s L\u2019empire des lumi\u00e8res (1959) retained its value by selling for $34.9 million with fees at Christies\u2019s single-owner sale for Leonard & Louise Riggio: Collected Works<\/a>. And last month, Francois-Xavier Lalanne\u2019s life-sized bronze desk Grand Rhinoc\u00e9ros II\u00a0(2003) sold for $16.422 million<\/a> with buyer\u2019s premium\u2014well beyond its high estimate of $5 million. It was the top lot at Sotheby\u2019s important design day sale in New York and the artist\u2019s second-highest result at auction.<\/p>\n

\n\tDi Donna also believes the market for Les Lalannes still has room to grow, due to the couple\u2019s unique style and growing number of buyers. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody that can compete in terms of quality, and imagery with them,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you see those giant hippos or giant gorillas or like the small choupette or, you know, I mean, all those pieces in themselves, very poetic, very beautiful and very charming to live with. And they\u2019re enchanting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA press release noted the illustrated catalog for \u201cMagritte and Les Lalanne: In the Mind\u2019s Garden\u201d will also contain texts from leading scholars in Surrealism, with a focus on Magritte and Les Lalanne.<\/p>\n

\n\tEditor\u2019s Note, July 30, 2025<\/strong>: A previous version of this article said both Di Donna Galleries and Ben Brown Fine Arts represented Les Lalanne. Only Ben Brown Fine Arts represents the French sculptors. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This fall, Di Donna Galleries will mount a major exhibition of more than 50 paintings, works on paper,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":106034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,68157,68158,1033,68159,171,68160,68161,15214,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-106033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-ben-brown-fine-arts","11":"tag-christies","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-di-donna-galleries","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-franu00e7ois-xavier-lalanne","16":"tag-renu00e9-magritte","17":"tag-sothebys","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114944728464742699","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}