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Lot Essay
Pierre Hugo a confirmé l'authenticité de ces vingt-trois plats.
C'est grâce à l'illustre historien d'art Douglas Cooper que les plats en argent de Pablo Picasso ont vu le jour. Amis de longue date, et installés tous les deux dans le sud de la France, les deux hommes avaient pris l'habitude de disserter sur les oeuvres du peintre lors de longs après-midi ensoleillés à La Californie. Cooper se souvient: "C'était donc un nouveau groupe de ces plats, tout juste arrivé de Vallauris que Picasso et moi étions en train de regarder à La Californie en ce jour de la fin mai 1956. Ces objets orientèrent peu à peu nos pensées et notre conversation vers ces plats d'or et d'argent somptueusement repoussés, exécutés au XVIe et au XVIIe siècle, soit en France, soit à Augsbourg ou à Venise, et dont beaucoup furent dessinés par des artistes célèbres. [...] Et c'est alors, quelques instants plus tard, que Picasso me dit à brûle pourpoint qu'il avait lui-même pensé que ses plats seraient splendides s'ils étaient exécutés en argent" (Picasso, 19 plats en argent, Paris, 1977, n.p.). Douglas Cooper pensa d'emblée à François Hugo que Picasso avait connu avant-guerre. L'orfèvre s'était récemment fait remarquer par la réalisation de plusieurs objets religieux en argent travaillé selon la technique du repoussé. Picasso fut immédiatement intéressé et chargea Douglas Cooper de prendre contact avec l'orfèvre. La rencontre entre les deux artistes eut lieu le 25 septembre 1956. Ils abordèrent les nombreuses questions techniques que le projet posait et Picasso, séduit par le charme et le talent de l'artisan, confia le plat Le dormeur comme modèle pour son premier essai. La première tentative fut réussie et Picasso commanda quatre autres exemplaires du Dormeur. Les commandes se poursuivirent pendant une dizaine d'années. Outre des assiettes, Picasso chargea Hugo de confectionner un compotier et plusieurs objets en or. Chaque fois, ces projets étaient "un défi constant à la faculté d'invention, à la souplesse d'esprit et à l'habileté de l'artisan" (ibid.). Ils travaillèrent également à la conception d'un vase mais les résultats ne furent jamais satisfaisants. Initialement, Picasso destinait ces objets à son usage personnel et n'avait "pas songé à autoriser l'exécution d'exemplaires destinés à être vendus au public" (ibid.). Picasso se refusa à les prêter pour des expositions et les garda jalousement pendant de nombreuses années. Il fallut attendre 1967 pour que le public découvre ces trésors cachés à la Galerie Le Point Cardinal, à Paris. Par la suite, Picasso autorisa leur édition et François, aidé de son fils Pierre, exécuta ces pièces "qui, par l'esprit, semblaient ramener 'à la Renaissance'" (ibid.).
It is thanks to the famous historian Douglas Cooper that Pablo Picasso's silver platters came into existence. Long-time friends, both living in the south of France, the two men had got into the habit of spending long sunny afternoons at La Californie, discussing the painter's works. Cooper recalls: "There was a new group of these plates, just arrived from Vallauris, which Picasso and I were looking at one day at the end of May 1956 in La Californie. Little by little, these objects led our conversation to the magnificently repoussé gold and silver platters made in the 16th and 17th century in France, in Augsburg or in Venice, many with designs by famous artists [...] This is when, a few minutes later, Picasso suddenly said that he had himself thought that his own plates would be splendid if executed in silver" (D. Cooper, Picasso, 19 plats en argent, Paris, 1977, n.p). Cooper immediately thought of François Hugo whom Picasso had met before the war. The silversmith had recently come to notice with the creation of several religious objects in silver using the repoussé technique. Picasso was immediately interested and asked Douglas Cooper to contact the silversmith. The two artists met on 25 September 1956. They discussed the project's many technical aspects and Picasso, won over by the artist's talent and his charm, gave him the dish Le Dormeur as a model for a first trial. This first attempt was a success and Picasso ordered four further Dormeur platters. The orders continued for the next ten years; in addition to the platters, Picasso also asked Hugo to make a fruit dish and several objects in gold. Each time, these projects "constantly challenged the inventiveness, the intellectual capacity and the dexterity of the artist" (ibid.). Together they also worked on the conception of a vase, but the results were never satisfactory for Picasso. Initially, Picasso intended these objects for his personal use only and had not "considered authorizing the execution of other editions to be sold to the public" (ibid.). Picasso refused to lend them for exhibitions and jealously kept them for himself for many years. It was only in 1967 that the public discovered these hidden treasures at Galerie Le Point Cardinal in Paris. Later, Picasso authorized editions and François Hugo, helped by his son Pierre, executed these pieces "which, in spirit, seemed to take one back to the Renaissance" (ibid.).
C'est grâce à l'illustre historien d'art Douglas Cooper que les plats en argent de Pablo Picasso ont vu le jour. Amis de longue date, et installés tous les deux dans le sud de la France, les deux hommes avaient pris l'habitude de disserter sur les oeuvres du peintre lors de longs après-midi ensoleillés à La Californie. Cooper se souvient: "C'était donc un nouveau groupe de ces plats, tout juste arrivé de Vallauris que Picasso et moi étions en train de regarder à La Californie en ce jour de la fin mai 1956. Ces objets orientèrent peu à peu nos pensées et notre conversation vers ces plats d'or et d'argent somptueusement repoussés, exécutés au XVI
It is thanks to the famous historian Douglas Cooper that Pablo Picasso's silver platters came into existence. Long-time friends, both living in the south of France, the two men had got into the habit of spending long sunny afternoons at La Californie, discussing the painter's works. Cooper recalls: "There was a new group of these plates, just arrived from Vallauris, which Picasso and I were looking at one day at the end of May 1956 in La Californie. Little by little, these objects led our conversation to the magnificently repoussé gold and silver platters made in the 16th and 17th century in France, in Augsburg or in Venice, many with designs by famous artists [...] This is when, a few minutes later, Picasso suddenly said that he had himself thought that his own plates would be splendid if executed in silver" (D. Cooper, Picasso, 19 plats en argent, Paris, 1977, n.p). Cooper immediately thought of François Hugo whom Picasso had met before the war. The silversmith had recently come to notice with the creation of several religious objects in silver using the repoussé technique. Picasso was immediately interested and asked Douglas Cooper to contact the silversmith. The two artists met on 25 September 1956. They discussed the project's many technical aspects and Picasso, won over by the artist's talent and his charm, gave him the dish Le Dormeur as a model for a first trial. This first attempt was a success and Picasso ordered four further Dormeur platters. The orders continued for the next ten years; in addition to the platters, Picasso also asked Hugo to make a fruit dish and several objects in gold. Each time, these projects "constantly challenged the inventiveness, the intellectual capacity and the dexterity of the artist" (ibid.). Together they also worked on the conception of a vase, but the results were never satisfactory for Picasso. Initially, Picasso intended these objects for his personal use only and had not "considered authorizing the execution of other editions to be sold to the public" (ibid.). Picasso refused to lend them for exhibitions and jealously kept them for himself for many years. It was only in 1967 that the public discovered these hidden treasures at Galerie Le Point Cardinal in Paris. Later, Picasso authorized editions and François Hugo, helped by his son Pierre, executed these pieces "which, in spirit, seemed to take one back to the Renaissance" (ibid.).