François-Xavier Lalanne’s “Mouton” Sculptures On View at “Sheep Station”

A Getty station is not a place you’d expect to see art-world insiders congregating on a beautiful September evening. Yet there they were Monday night on the corner of 24th Street and Tenth Avenue in Manhattan, sipping wine and nibbling on hors d’oeuvres amid the now-defunct gas pumps. The occasion was an exclusive party celebrating the opening of “Sheep Station,” a daring exhibition of 25 epoxy-and-bronze Mouton sculptures by French artist François-Xavier Lalanne (1927–2008).

The flock can now be found grazing on a rolling lawn that was erected on-site for the show, organized by dealer Paul Kasmin and real-estate developer Michael Shvo. (The latter is eventually transforming the property into high-end residences.) It was a double-take-inducing display, sort of like a surrealistic petting zoo—only minus the touching, which guards prohibited. Understandable, really: Just one of the iconic sculptures can fetch upwards of $200,000 at auction. And you thought the price of gas was high….