A pair of François-Xavier Lalanne perched in front of an artwork by Rashid Johnson.
Photo: Jason Schmidt, Courtesy of Peter Marino Art Foundation
The Collectors: Peter Marino
The architect’s passion for art and lifelong friendship with Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne informed his extensive collection of sculptures by the creative couple
Peter Marino. Photo: Manolo Yllera
Prolific architect Peter Marino is perhaps best known for his work for Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co., whose Fifth Avenue flagship he reimagined in spectacular fashion. But it is his passion for collecting—from rare books and Italian Renaissance bronzes to late 19th-century French ceramics by Théodore Deck, Andy Warhol silkscreens, and Robert Mapplethorpe photographs—that make him a true polymath.
In the 1970s, a chance encounter with artist Claude Lalanne led to a lifelong friendship. “It wasn’t until the late ’80s that I could afford to collect, but I was eventually able to commission works by both Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne for my clients,” recalls Marino, who hosted the couple at his Southampton, New York home, where they created site-specific pieces such as a prized hydrangea bench that embodies Marino’s garden, which bursts with more than 1,000 bushes. “I like the combination of realism with surreal irony and humor. I also love the handmade quality of the pieces and their humanity.”
Claude Lalanne's Sphynx bronze sculpture in the home of Peter Marino. Photo: Jason Schmidt, Courtesy of Peter Marino Art Foundation
“I like the combination of realism with surreal irony and humor”
Peter Marino
Prized piece: “I had told Fraçois-Xavier that my favorite myth is Jason and the golden sheep. From that idea he created Grands Moutons de Peter, my own gilt-bronze flock. I also love my very first piece, the large Architect.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Late Fall Issue under the headline “The Collectors.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: A pair of François-Xavier Lalanne perched in front of an artwork by Rashid Johnson.
Photo: Jason Schmidt, Courtesy of Peter Marino Art Foundation
