Claude Lalanne

One of the artist’s most iconic creations, Choupatte (2014) is the playful and unexpected juxtaposition
of a lush cabbage perched atop the legs of bird. A creative fusion of disparate
elements, the work showcases the artist’s unparalleled ability to infuse
refined craftsmanship with whimsy. A signature motif for the artist, the
work’s title translates literally to cabbage-leg (chou-patte). The cabbage leaf was an especially enduring and
significant component of her oeuvre, as her husband François-Xavier described,
"The cabbage leaf is to Claude what the acanthus leaf was to Greek
art."[1] The artist debuted her first Choupattes in 1964 in Les
Lalanne’s inaugural joint exhibition, Les Zoophites. The exhibition
title took its name from an archaic scientific categorization for an organism
that was thought to be an intermediary between the plant and animal world—and
was emblematic of Les Lalanne’s artistic language which blended flora and
fauna into magnificent surreal creatures as seen in the present work.

[1] François-Xavier Lalanne, quoted in D. Marchesseau, The Lalannes, New York, 1998, p. 32