Design’s Ultimate Power Couple – The Growth of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne’s Market
Tarabella Frazer, Research Associate and Client Success Manager
Victoria Kleiner, Head of Art Due Diligence and Digital Art Expertise
Christopher Mann, MSc CEng MIET MIoP, Head of Data
The last few years have seen success in 20th Century Design sales as Design pieces are increasingly being considered alongside fine art as collectibles and investment assets within a collector’s overall wealth portfolio. Recent yearly sale totals have reached nine figure sums, with the peak in 2022 achieving almost 430 million USD. Notable from amongst all of these sales, are the works by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, or widely known as the collective moniker ‘Les Lalanne’, that are hard to ignore due to their distinctive and whimsical subject matter. Their oeuvre, which covers furniture, jewellery, and objects, merges fine art and design with playful humour and varying degrees of functionality. Yet, it is their impressive performance at auction, as evidenced by Overstone’s data analytics, which situates them as serious and valuable investment pieces and collectibles.
The market for Les Lalanne is global, across different continents and crosses multiple auction categories, from Modern and Contemporary auctions, Design auctions, and single-owner auctions.[1] However, auction sales for Les Lalanne occur primarily in Paris and New York, as evidenced when analysing the number of lots by Les Lalanne offered at the different locations with an estimate above 50,000 USD. From 2020 till now, 55% of lots were offered in Paris, versus 40.7% in New York, 2.3% in Hong Kong and only 1.7% in London. Although New York is the hub for the highest grossing auction departments (Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art), Paris holds the majority of the Lalanne market, further evidenced by Sotheby’s decision to host the Lalanne estate sales in 2019 and 2021 in Paris rather than at their New York headquarters. However, the fact that Paris only holds a minor majority over New York, shows the artists’ strength and market spread across different continents. It will be interesting to monitor how and if the balance between the two locations changes.
Both artists broke their auction records in 2023, despite reported softening of the art market and the current economic, cultural and political conditions. François-Xavier Lalanne’s Rhinocrétaire I, sold for a hammer price of 15.7 million EUR against an estimate of 4-6 million EUR at Christie’s Paris in October 2023. Claude Lalanne’s record was broken twice on the same night, first with her Miroir, Pièce Unique (2009) selling for 3.6 million EUR hammer price (estimate 380,000-580,000 EUR) shortly followed by her Très grand choupatte, pièce Unique (2008) which sold for a hammer price of 4.1 million EUR against an estimate of 1-1.5 million EUR. Overall, 8 of the top 10 prices at auction for Les Lalannes have been achieved since June 2021, with these recent record prices a testament to the depth of the artists’ markets.
When analysing their results as individual artists, both Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne have historically performed well at auction. As illustrated in the graphs below, lots by both artists have consistently outperformed their estimates. Notably, despite cooling market conditions in 2023, Claude Lalanne saw her average hammer price increase from 2022 to 2023, whereas François-Xavier saw a slight drop (although it did not decline at the same gradient as the rest of the market). Recent attention on women artists and their increasing performance at auction[2] could be a contributing factor to this rise, as more collectors seek to increase their collection’s representation of women artists, thus driving up prices at auction. This shows that Les Lalanne have largely outperformed the rest of the market and can weather the market conditions.
The graphs show for both artists a rise in estimates and hammer prices from 2016 till 2023, showing overall growth in their market over the last 7 years. Significant peaks in the average hammer prices for both artists are evident in 2017 and 2021, and in 2019 for Claude Lalanne. A contributing factor to all of these occasions is the success from single owner collections in 2017 (the collection of Albertino Pinto at Christie’s and the collection of Jacques Grange at Sotheby’s) and sales from the Lalanne estate. Claude Lalanne’s passing in 2019 and the consequential sale of the Les Lalanne collection and estate in 2019 and 2021 are significant contributing factors to the spike in the average hammer prices. The sale of the Dorothée Lalanne collection at Sotheby’s in 2021 was a white glove sale that achieved over 80.9 million EUR and was reported by Sotheby’s to be the highest auction total achieved for a French auction in 2021.
Auction Sale Results of Claude Lalanne, 2016-2023 (Overstone Analytics)
Auction Sale Results of Francois-Xavier Lalanne, 2016-2023 (Overstone Analytics)
The sell-through rate has remained consistently strong throughout the last 8 years for both artists. Analysing all the graphs above, the difference between the Total Lots and the Lots Sold is barely discernible, if at all. Also noticeable is the increase to the total lots offered at auction, shown in the bar graphs with the total lots rising significantly from 2019, particularly for Claude Lalanne. The dip in 2020 can be attributed to the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic, which halted many sales. This increase from 2019 can be credited to the sales of the Lalanne estate and significant single-owner collections. Now that the estate has been sold and fewer single-owner collections are coming to auction, it will be interesting to see if this momentum can be continued.
In 2024, sales have remained impressive. Out of 15 lots offered with a low estimate above 30,000 USD in Q1 and Q2, only 3 have gone unsold. The remaining 12 lots have all achieved premium prices above their high estimates. Notably, François-Xavier Lalanne’s 'Éléphantine' Table sold at Christie’s in New York in their June ‘Design’ sale for a premium price of 1.134 million USD, which was almost six times its high estimate (estimate was 150,000-200,000 USD). François-Xavier Lalanne’s auction success has continued into the latter half of the year, as evident by the white glove sale of the Dorothée Lalanne Collection at Christie’s New York on 10 October that achieved approximately 59 million USD, almost two and a half times the sale’s total high estimate, with every work achieving a realised price above the high estimate. Outside of the auction market, Les Lalanne are featuring at multiple exhibitions and fairs, including the Venice Biennale, with many marking sixty years since Les Lalanne’s first solo exhibition in Paris, all of which will further widen their exposure to collectors.
Overall, it is clear from the historical auction results and analysis that there has been an impressive growth in the Les Lalanne market. The high hammer prices against their auction estimates and low sell-through rate show their demand amongst collectors despite current market conditions, as recently demonstrated for François-Xavier Lalanne at the sale of Dorothée Lalanne’s Collection at Christie’s New York. As we approach the Paris and New York auction seasons, it appears highly likely that the strength of their market will continue.
[1] Christie’s and Sotheby’s host Design auctions in New York and Paris, with Sotheby’s recently hosting additional smaller sales in Milan, whilst Phillips, without a saleroom in the French capital, hosts auctions at their London base.
[2] Please see our previous post that studied the performance of women artists in the November 2023 Marquee Sales in New York. https://www.overstoneart.com/press-content/women-to-the-fore