Original Poster by François-Xavier LALANNE, Galerie Alexandre-iolas - 1970

This is an original exhibition poster designed in 1970 by François-Xavier Lalanne for the Galerie Alexandre Iolas in Paris — one of the most influential galleries in the history of postwar art, whose roster included René Magritte, Max Ernst, Victor Brauner, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Jean Tinguely.

François-Xavier Lalanne (1927–2008) worked throughout his career alongside his wife Claude Lalanne as the celebrated duo simply known as Les Lalanne. Their work occupies a singular place in 20th-century art — neither purely sculpture nor furniture, neither fine art nor decorative art, but something genuinely their own: animals and natural forms transformed into objects of dreamlike, functional beauty. Their sheep, their rhinoceroses, their gorillas — rendered in bronze and copper with extraordinary craft — became some of the most sought-after works of their generation.

The Galerie Iolas was the natural home for the Lalannes — a gallery whose founder, Alexandre Iolas, had an unmatched instinct for Surrealism-adjacent art that defied category. Their collaboration produced some of the most important exhibitions of the early 1970s in Paris.

This example has been freshly linen backed — the gold standard of vintage poster conservation, ensuring the piece is stable, flat, and ready for framing.

A rare and coveted piece — François-Xavier Lalanne at his most poetic, at the gallery that understood him best.