A custom ensemble of 15 mirrors by Claude Lalanne sold for $33.5 million at Sotheby's New York, shattering the artist's previous auction record and setting a new global benchmark for the most expensive design work ever sold at auction. The piece, commissioned in 1974 for Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé's Paris home, far exceeded its $10-15 million estimate.
The sale signals the soaring market for the work of Claude Lalanne and her husband François-Xavier Lalanne, collectively known as Les Lalanne, and underscores intensifying global demand for top-tier design. The mirrors were the highlight of the 'Design Masters' series of sales from the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg, which Sotheby's billed as a historic, 'once-in-a-generation' moment for the design market.