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PICASSO'S VASES The following three works bear the signs of Picasso’s intrepid creativity, when after the Second World War he turned to ceramics, transferring the whimsical world of his pictures and sculptures onto the shapes and vessels of Provençal pottery. Picasso had first visited the Madoura Pottery studio in Vallauris in 1946, invited by Georges and Suzanne Ramié. The pottery-making history of Vallauris went back to the Roman times, when the area was an important centre of amphorae production; in the 18th Century, Vallauris revived its ancient fame with the production of kitchen earthenware. When Picasso arrived in the 1940s, however, the area was suffering a period of crisis, as mass-produced pottery had invaded the market. André Verdet’s artistic commentary to the documentary Terres et Flammes (1951, directed by Robert Mariaud) traces the history of Vallauris, presenting Picasso as a genius-saviour who gave new artistic impetus to a craft thought to have reached its end. Grand vase aux femmes voilées and Grand vase aux danseurs represent two of only three vases of this large scale, which facilitates the compositions to feature numerous full length figures. The representation of the figure dominates Picasso’s art in every media. From Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907, recalled in Grand vase aux femmes voilées in the raised arms of the dancing female figure, through to the large scale canvases of the late 1960s. Picasso’s response to the Grand vase is to draw out the form of the female figure from the waist of the vase itself, forming the womanly curve of the hip on one side and the lower back on another. Flute players join the woman on the Grand vase aux danseurs, reminiscent of the fauns who appear in his paintings and drawings of this period and echoing the artist’s sense of humour and joie de vivre following his move with Francoise to the South. In Gros oiseau visage noir, Picasso has manipulated the form of the classical hydria, capitalising on its ability to resemble a bird. Multiplying the image and shifting the relation of forms, Picasso then turned the black belly into a stylised face, which exhibits the artist’s talent for capturing a character with a few, distilled lines. Outlined in the colours of Greek Antique pottery – black, white and red – the bird’s eyes peer at the viewer, as it spreads its wings along the handles. Like the Grandes vases, the Gros oiseau visage noir was moulded by the Madoura Pottery as part of a series of 25 examples. However, this Gros oiseau visage noir was painted by Picasso himself, constituting a unique piece. The spontaneous hand of the artist is unmistakable in the spots of iridescent blue and white glaze which are added as decoration along the ‘feathers’ of the bird. An earlier version of the present lot – which does not feature the red details – was shown in the aforementioned Verdet film. ‘Picasso’s works’, Vedert affirmed in the film, ‘bring back to mind the vivid dignity of what humans have created with their very first artistic gestures’. PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Grand vase aux danseurs

Details

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Grand vase aux danseurs
dated '54 [sic] juin 50' (at the bottom), stamped and numbered 'EMPREINTE ORIGINALE DE PICASSO MADOURA PLEIN FEU 21' (inside the rim)
terracotta vase engraved and painted with white engobe
Height: 27½ in. (69.9 cm.)
Conceived in 1950 and executed in a numbered edition of 25

Provenance

Samuel Glaser, Boston, by whom acquired directly from the pottery in 1952.
Anonymous sale, Christie’s, Los Angeles, 14 December 1999, lot 253.
Jane Kahan Gallery, New York, by whom acquired at the above sale.
Anonymous sale, Phillips, New York, 21 April 2011, lot 12.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature

G. Bloch, Pablo Picasso, catalogue de l’oeuvre gravé céramique, 1951-1971, vol. III, Bern, 1972, no. 20 (another example illustrated p. 28).
G. Ramié, Picasso’s Ceramics, Barcelona, 1974, no. 690 (another example illustrated p. 277).
A. Ramié, Picasso, catalogue de l’oeuvre céramique édité 1947-1971, Vallauris, 1988, no. 115 (another example illustrated pp. 64-65).

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

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Antoine Lebouteiller

alebouteiller@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2515

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