Serving up a Picasso
If owning a Picasso seems beyond your wildest dreams why not try one of his ceramics?
Sotheby’s recent sale saw low estimates of £800
BECAUSE SO MANY WOULD-BE Picasso
collectors are being priced out of the
market for his paintings and works on
paper, it is the artist’s ceramics that are
now really starting to attract attention.
The works are made affordable
because they were produced in runs of
up to 500 and, while the artist painted
the designs, he left the actual potterymaking to others. Animals, birds, nymphs
and mythological characters are featured
in the ceramics, including the minotaur, a
recurring motif in Picasso’s work. Many of
the pitchers and some of the vases portray
stylised, and much sought after, chouettes
(owls). Handles were often made from facial
or anatomical parts of the animal depicted.
The subjects are very creative and playful,
and include Greek mythological figures,
corrida scenes, and face motifs. Unique, as
well as editioned, these ceramics make
possible the artist’s dream that anyone could
own a Picasso.
New direction
For the very lucky, or prescient collector, it was
a visit to the Madoura workshop in Vallauris
while holidaying in the south of France in the
50s that resulted in a Picasso ceramic.
Visitors to the workshop, nestled
between Cannes and Antibes in a town
known for its arts and crafts, would be
amazed to identify the elderly potter –
assigned his own corner – as one of the co40
founders of Cubism.
The Spanish artist first visited the
pottery in Vallauris in 1946, where he struck
up a friendship with the owners , Georges
and Suzanne Ramié who offered him a
lump of clay. This humble gesture fired
Picasso’s imagination and ignited a working
relationship with the Ramiés which resulted
in the production of thousands of ceramics.
The appeal of the artisan lifestyle and
the opportunity to work in a new medium
prompted Picasso to ask the couple if he
could work with them, and in 1947 he began
creating his own pieces there.
He was treated like any other employee
– although his fellow workers did not have
Brigitte Bardot, Gary Cooper or Richard
Attenborough drop by for a chat.
Customers who approached the
elderly employee looking for sales
advice were astonished to find
themselves face to face with the
celebrity artist.
The years Picasso spent in the
region are understood to have been
among the happiest of his life; he told
his biographer Pierre Daix that he felt
at home at Madoura. Two women
bookended the artist’s time with the
workshop: his lover Françoise Gilot who
gave birth to a son, Claude, during Picasso’s
first year at the pottery, and Jacqueline Roque,
who worked there, became Picasso’s wife and
muse, and remained his partner for more than
20 years until his death in 1973.
In all, Picasso spent 24 years at Madoura,
producing 633 designs in limited editions
ranging from 25 to 500.
Auction houses including Bonhams and
Sotheby’s regularly dedicate part of their
modern art sales to Picasso ceramics.
Main picture (from left to right)
Visage no. 0 Visage no. 202 Visage no. 130 Terre
de faïence plates, 1963. Estimate: £3,000 - 5,000
each
Above: Vallauris, Terre de faïence dish, 1956.
Sotheby’s estimate: £6,000-8,000
Pichet à glace. Terre de faïence pitcher, 1952.
Sotheby’s estimate: £20,000-25,000
Exclusive sales dedicated to Picasso ceramics
have also become increasingly popular over
the past few years, adding to the perception
of a growing market. Christie’s South
Kensington held a sale in June 2012, entirely
dedicated to the Madoura Collection of
Picasso ceramics, with a 100 percent sellthrough rate for the 500 lots in the sale. This
spring’s Sotheby’s Important Ceramics by
Pablo Picasso sale showcased the modern
master’s playful side. The comprehensive
group of approximately 150 works ranged in
estimate from £800 to £55,000.
Séverine Nackers, head of prints, Sotheby’s
Europe, said: “The sale gave a great overview
of the last 25 years of Picasso’s life. Every kind
of ceramic he produced was represented.”
Vase aztèque aux quatre visages. Terre de faïence
vase, 1957. Sotheby’s estimate: £30,000-40,000
Chouette, Terre de faïence vase, 1968. Sotheby’s
estimate: £7,000-9,000
Colombe de la paix.
Unique Terre de
faïence plate, 1954.
Estimate: £35,00040,000
Picasso ceramics on show
One of the UK’s finest collections of
Picasso ceramics is on permanent
display at the New Walk Museum
and Art Gallery, in Leiceister. The
Attenborough Collection was
bequeathed by Lord and Lady
Attenborough who first paid a visit
to the Madoura pottery in 1954.
The first thing they acquired was an
ashtray, for £3, but went on to build
up an impressive collection over the
next 50 years.
The majority of the collection
consists of editions and original impressions; multiple works that
Picasso insisted the pottery should produce and sell
inexpensively, so that everyone could own a Picasso.
In 2007, Lord and Lady Attenborough announced that their
Picasso ceramics collection would be entrusted to the City of
Leicester to commemorate the lives of their daughter, Jane Mary,
and their granddaughter, Lucy Elizabeth, who perished together in
the Asian Tsunami on December 26, 2004.
Picasso Ceramics: The Attenborough Collection can be seen
at Gallery 13, New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester. For
more details visit www.leicester.gov.uk.
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