Lila: The Art of Hosting
From the Banquet to the Coffee Table
Lila Lalaouni selects objects from the ILJM’s permanent collections
THE ILIAS LALAOUNIS LEGACY Volume II
On the occasion of its 30+ years of operation, the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum (ILJM) presents the second chapter of its anniversary exhibition series, focusing on the relationship between Ilias Lalaounis’ work and functionality, as well as the integration of works of art into everyday life. In tribute to Lila and in celebration of her 90th birthday, the curatorial department invited her to dress her household tables in a distinctive and creative manner. This homage sought to honor her husband’s artistic spirit while reviving his earlier collections, from the first designs created in 1957 to his final works completed in 2002.
The starting point of the exhibition is Lila: wife, muse, and lifelong companion of Ilias Lalaounis. In their private life, Lila was distinguished by her remarkable talent for hospitality. The art de la table, particularly at the banquet table, served as the palette for each new collection of objets d’art designed by Ilias. European silverware, sourced from markets across Europe, was thoughtfully combined with Ilias’ new microsculpture collections and meticulously displayed to leave a lasting impression on an international audience.
Shaped by her upbringing, she possessed an innate understanding of how to host with refinement and authenticity, free from unnecessary artifice. Her homes were renowned for their elegance and savoir-vivre. Fresh flowers were handpicked weekly from the market and arranged into elegant bouquets for the living spaces and her very own banquet tables.
For this exhibition, Lila highlights the beauty and functionality of selected objects, thoughtfully dressing tables and domestic spaces — the dining room, the living room, the study — inviting visitors into the warm and intimate corners of her home.
The exhibition presents a carefully curated selection of objets d’art designed and supervised by Ilias Lalaounis between 1970 and 2002, drawn from the Museum’s historical archive and permanent collection. Out of Lalaounis’ 50+ collections, about 25 included objects. Through each of his thematic collections, Lalaounis conceived thousands of designs and personally supervised the production of over 3,000 original microsculptural works. Together, these objects form a substantial and coherent body of work, constituting a rich archival legacy, significant numbers of which are preserved within the Museum’s permanent collection.
From the early 1970s onward, the innovative and exploratory spirit of Lalaounis led him to engage deeply with the language of sculpture, reinterpreting and modernizing the traditions of precious decorative and applied arts on a miniature scale. Working masterfully with 18 and 22 karat gold, silver, and minerals, he created refined and meticulously handcrafted objects. Each artifact stands independently — even when part of a collection — functioning as a three-dimensional sculpture that serves as a decorative or functional object within domestic or professional spaces.
The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the dual nature of Lalaounis’ creations: as autonomous artistic objects and as functional elements integrated into private or professional environments. His oeuvre has frequently been compared within a lineage that recalls the craftsmanship of Peter Carl Fabergé and René Lalique, while the imaginative and often surreal qualities of his forms have invited comparisons to Salvador Dalí.
The Art of Hosting proposes a contemporary reading of Ilias Lalaounis’ work through the prism of use, aesthetic coherence, and cultural experience.
©Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum Curatorial Department
Photography
Costas Vergas, Dimitris Michalakis
Graphic Design
Thymios Presvytis, Thodoris Anagnostopoulos
Peak Design
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