拍品专文
Alors qu'il n’est pas encore sculpteur, François-Xavier Lalanne accepte une place de gardien au Musée du Louvre au cours de l'hiver 1948-49. Pendant cette période, il fréquente tous les jours le département des antiquités orientales et plus particulièrement les œuvres venues d'Egypte, de Mésopotamie et de la Rome antique. Là, pendant de longues heures, son œil enregistre les formes, les courbes, la stylisation spécifique de cette sculpture et son esprit élabore les prémices de son futur vocabulaire plastique dont on retrouve dans ce Singe toutes les caractéristiques : une figure aux traits hiératiques, éclairée d’un sourire tranquille, comme celui de la statuette de Thot en Babouin réalisée vers 500 avant J. C. (inv. AF2350). Tout au long de sa carrière François-Xavier Lalanne explore de nombreuses variations autour du singe qu’il introduit dans l’univers domestique, tantôt luminaire, table ou sculpture, comme pour ce très bel exemplaire.
While not yet a sculptor, François-Xavier Lalanne accepted a position as a guard at the Louvre Museum during the winter of 1948-49. During this period, he visited the Oriental Antiquities Department every day, especially the works from Egypt, Mesopotamia and ancient Rome. There, for long hours, his eye registered the shapes, curves, and specific stylization of this sculpture, and his mind worked out the beginnings of his future plastic vocabulary, which we find in this Singe: a figure with hieratic features, illuminated by a quiet smile, like that of the statuette of Thoth as a Baboon, made around 500 BC (inv. AF2350). Throughout his career, François-Xavier Lalanne explored numerous variations on the monkey, which he introduced into the domestic world, whether as a light fixture, a table or a sculpture, as in this very fine example.
While not yet a sculptor, François-Xavier Lalanne accepted a position as a guard at the Louvre Museum during the winter of 1948-49. During this period, he visited the Oriental Antiquities Department every day, especially the works from Egypt, Mesopotamia and ancient Rome. There, for long hours, his eye registered the shapes, curves, and specific stylization of this sculpture, and his mind worked out the beginnings of his future plastic vocabulary, which we find in this Singe: a figure with hieratic features, illuminated by a quiet smile, like that of the statuette of Thoth as a Baboon, made around 500 BC (inv. AF2350). Throughout his career, François-Xavier Lalanne explored numerous variations on the monkey, which he introduced into the domestic world, whether as a light fixture, a table or a sculpture, as in this very fine example.