François Xavier Lalanne was a French sculptor and installation artist. He often incorporated animal and mythological imagery into unique furniture pieces, such as a gazelle-shaped tables or ram dressers. “I thought that it would be funny to invade that big living room with a flock of sheep,” he once explained. “It is, after all, easier to have a sculpture in an apartment than to have a real sheep. And, it’s even better if you can sit on it.” Born on August 27, 1908 in Agen, France, he studied art at the Académie Julian in Paris. While in the city, he was introduced to many Surrealist artists, such as Man Ray, Max Ernst, and Marcel Duchamp. In 1956, at his first gallery show, Lalanne met an artist ...