Pablo Picasso’s Vase au décor pastel of 1953 demonstrates how the artist found in ceramics not only the challenge of a new material, but an opportunity to work with an ancient Mediterranean tradition. In 1946, Picasso relocated to the south of France soon after beginning a new relationship with François Gilot. There, in the small village of Vallauris, Picasso met Georges and Suzanne Ramié, the proprietors of Madoura pottery, where he would soon set-up a studio. Under the supervision of the Ramiés, who shared with Picasso their vast knowledge of the craft, the artist began to invigorate traditional ceramics methods by introduction of innovative techniques and motifs. Antiquity fused with his everyday practice and in Vase au décor pastel we see the stylistic lineage of archaic vocabulary revigorated into modern pottery.
The Madoura Pottery Studio, Vallauris. An excursion to Italy with his friend Jean Cocteau in 1917 offered Picasso the opportunity to directly encounter treasures from Roman antiquity. Enamoured of the mythological subject matter, sculptural nude forms and distinct curvature in the ancient ceramics, Picasso extracted stylistic elements from a bygone era and assimilated them with new life into his unmistakeable personal style. In Vase au décor pastel, for instance, we see how the artist drew inspiration from the distinctive form of ancient amphorae; the curved handles that connect the shapely body to the rim of the mouth echo the formal structure of the Roman-era ceramic, while the darkened concentric lines are re-used in various pastel iterations in Picasso’s vase. Moreover, adopting the same local clay used in ceramic production throughout the centuries – unglazed and rough in texture – form, material and the muted decorative palette work together to create entirely modern incarnations of Roman-era ceramics.
Amphora, 550-480 BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76 While Picasso consistently probed classical sources, he invariably kept a signature strain of mischievous genius and playful experimentation throughout his ceramics. The smiling face in the centre of Vase au décor pastel is a cheerful motif that proliferated many of his other ceramic work, such as in the Visage plates. This pseudo-classical approach of combining influences from antiquity with the playful, smiling faces – anecdotal as opposed to directly referential – evokes the atmosphere of an ancient time with a breadth of new life and energy. In this sense, Picasso’s continual conversation with classical imagery was not a retreat into antiquity, but a reassertion that objects from the past have a living presence.
Literature
Alain Ramié 190
Artist Biography
Pablo Picasso
Spanish • 1881 - 1973
One of the most dominant and influential artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso was a master of endless reinvention. While significantly contributing to the movements of Surrealism, Neoclassicism and Expressionism, he is best known for pioneering the groundbreaking movement of Cubism alongside fellow artist Georges Braque in the 1910s. In his practice, he drew on African and Iberian visual culture as well as the developments in the fast-changing world around him.
Throughout his long and prolific career, the Spanish-born artist consistently pushed the boundaries of art to new extremes. Picasso's oeuvre is famously characterized by a radical diversity of styles, ranging from his early forays in Cubism to his Classical Period and his later more gestural expressionist work, and a diverse array of media including printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture as well as theater sets and costumes designs.
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Vase au décor pastel (Vase with Pastel Decoration) (A.R. 190)
1953
Red earthenware turned vase with pastel additions in colours.
32.5 x 21.8 x 18 cm (12 3/4 x 8 5/8 x 7 1/8 in.)
Incised with numbering 169/200, 'R-135', and 'Edition Picasso Madoura' in black paint, with the Madoura Plein Feu and Edition Picasso pottery stamps on the underside.
Estimate
£8,000 - 12,000 ♠
Sold for £38,100
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Pablo Picasso: Paper and Clay
London Auction 6 June 2024
27
This lot is no longer available.
