Words are completely inadequate to express how very much it means to me for a company like Lalique – with such a long, rich, and highly respected tradition of excellence and craftsmanship – to support the work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation in this highly visible and collaborative way. You could simply have written us a cheque. But instead, you wanted to work with us on a project that would help raise the visibility of the Foundation’s work and bring new people to our cause while also raising significant funds for our mission. You wanted to partner with us in a way that linked our two organisations together organically through a creative effort. That means more to me than I can possibly express.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation is a very prestigious Foundation. We’ve been there for a long time now, and what we do is respected throughout the world and for people who come into a store and buy a Lalique piece that benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation, they are doing so much good and I thank you all in advance for doing that.
INTERVIEW WITH SIR ELTON JOHN
How did the collaboration come about?
This new project is actually the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s second collaboration with Lalique. Back in the late 1990s, we were thrilled to work with Lalique on a crystal angel piece that was very successful, raising money in support of the Foundation’s life-saving work. These funds were crucial to our organisation, especially back in the early years of our founding, and we remain incredibly grateful to Lalique for working with us then and supporting EJAF in its formative years.
For me, the collaboration clearly demonstrates that this remarkable company is deeply committed to its responsibilities as a global corporate citizen. Lalique recognises that corporations have an important role to play in helping to solve problems like the global AIDS crisis. One of those roles is to support the efforts of non-profit organisations working at the forefront of the epidemic. The Elton John AIDS Foundation is very proud to partner with Lalique on this important new project, and I am personally so thrilled and so very grateful to Lalique for collaborating with us once again.
What were your own aims when you embarked on the collaboration?
The ultimate goal of this project is to raise money to support urgently needed projects that address the continuing challenges of the AIDS epidemic across the globe. In doing so, we also want to create beautiful and meaningful pieces for people to purchase that speak to the high standards of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Lalique. I collect art, I love art, I love glass and I collect glass. Something artistic together with the message of the AIDS Foundation, which is to share the love and try and heal and educate as many people about the disease of AIDS as possible, it is a combination of bringing two big forces together. Creating cause- marketing products also helps EJAF to reach out to new audiences through special collaborations like this one. We are a very prestigious AIDS Foundation. We’ve been there for a long time now, there are not many of us left, but what we do is respected throughout the world and for people who come into a store and buy a Lalique piece that benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation, they are doing so much good and I thank you all in advance for doing that.
How did you like the process of working with Lalique?
Well, I’ve have always loved glass and I have always collected Lalique, and so working with a company that is so famous and does so many beautiful “objets” is always very exciting. And I’ve watched Lalique go from being very traditional to incorporating the traditional with the modern, which I really love.
This process excited me, with the Angel and the beautiful Hearts, because it is a marriage of the past and the present. It has been an absolute pleasure to do this! It enthralls me because I love glass and I so love Lalique, that being part of this for me is very exciting, because I am a fan!
The theme of the pieces is ‘Music is Love’. Why do you think music and love have always been so intricately entwined?
Love is one of the primary forces that can unite us and bring us together despite our differences. Indeed, love shows us that the differences dividing us from each other are ultimately very superficial, that we have so much more in common than not. Music is a powerful medium for expressing all the many faces of love, and it is a participatory medium. Music draws us together. It is a universal language. We come together to make music, to listen to music, to share music. This is why I believe that music and love are synonymous, that music IS love.
Music is your passion and your most widely-known medium of expression. How have you found working in sculpture, particularly in crystal?
The process of artistic creation – whether for music or dance or visual art – arises from the same impetus, the same need to express thoughts, feelings, ideas. I found the entire design process for this project – from theorising, to working and revising with drawings, to realising the concept as a three- dimensional object – to be absolutely exhilarating. Working in crystal is fascinating, and Lalique crystal has an amazing way of constantly changing with light and shadow, the time of day… Such a beautiful, magical medium!
The finished piece is even more exciting and beautiful than I ever could have imagined. I’m completely thrilled with it and really looking forward to the auction in February 2016.
You’re a collector of glass and crystal, and have a number of Lalique pieces in your collection. What is it that you appreciate about crystal and Lalique in particular?
For me, Lalique stands for craftsmanship, luxury and a strong tradition of devotion to the art of producing the highest quality, most beautiful objects using these materials. Lalique sets a standard of craftsmanship that is simply unparalleled in the world.
I think glass is a much underappreciated art form. That is why I collect it and I love it very much and Lalique to me represents the Rolls-Royce of glass.
As an oral artist who makes music, the visual arts of glass inspire me when I write a song or when I play the piano, because every day I get up and I am surrounded by glass and a lot of Lalique. Subconsciously, it inspires me to do better things, I think.
“I found the entire design process for this project – from theorising, to working and revising with drawings, to realising the concept – to be absolutely fascinating and exhilarating!”
You have also been working with the Lalique design team to create three other sculptures – a smaller angel and two heart sculptures, with part of the proceeds going to the Foundation. What do these symbolise for you?
The heart is a universal symbol of love, as well as the Angel. Love is ultimately what guides and inspires the work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and love is what we need to end this epidemic. Science has made amazing advances in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. But unless we love each other enough to make sure that everyone – no matter who they love, what they do, how they look or what they believe – has the resources to stay healthy and prevent further transmission of the disease, then all the science in the world will be for naught. LOVE is the ultimate solution to AIDS.
Can you tell us more about the Angel?
This Angel is a smaller version of the unique lost wax piece. We wanted to make an accessible and more affordable version of the original as part of this project.
People with big hearts, kind people… I have met so many people in my life who have enormous hearts, most of them who are not famous whatsoever, but for example who look after the sick on the 24 hours basis and tend to the elderly, who devote their lives to others. I think the heart is a symbol of that, it is a symbol of love and it’s obvious that the angel and the heart are two things that go really very well together.
Four Special Editions (the Angel Cire Perdue, the Heart in platinum enamelled red crystal, the Heart in gold enamelled clear crystal and the Angel in gold-stamped clear crystal) each signed by Sir Elton John, will be auctioned during the 2016 Academy Awards, in partnership with Paddle8, to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Paddle8 is the premier online collecting destination, presenting auctions of extraordinary art, design, jewelry, watches, and collectibles. Using innovative technology, Paddle8 has streamlined the collecting experience, combining the excitement and expertise of an auction house with efficient operational solutions and an international perspective.
In addition, Paddle8 has partnered with over 350 non-profit organizations worldwide to present benefit auctions to our global community of 500,000 collectors, helping each organization expand its fundraising results.
Founded in 2011, Paddle8 has over 100 employees worldwide, with teams in New York, L.A., and London. Paddle8 is funded by the investors behind Uber, Vimeo, Buzzfeed, Paperless Post, Warby Parker, and Bonobos, among others, as well as art-world insiders including artist Damien Hirst, art dealer Jay Jopling, and Matthew Mellon.
“This process excited me, with the angel and the beautiful hearts, because it is a marriage of the past and the present. It has been an absolute pleasure to do this! It enthralls me because?I love glass and I so love Lalique, that being part of this for me is very exciting, because I am a fan!”
On 28th February 2016, at the Academy Awards® Viewing Party auction in Los Angeles, four unique crystal art pieces designed and created by Elton John and Lalique raised $410,000 USD.
100% of proceeds from sale benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), a leader in the global effort to end AIDS.
A record-breaking price of $290,000 USD was achieved by the masterpiece Angel in Cire Perdue, the most expensive piece sold of all the items auctioned
Lalique is exclusively available at Rustan’s Makati and Shangri-la. Both Rustan’s stores carry the Lalique Music is Love – Heart and Lalique Music is Love – Angel.
