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Lot Essay
In the summer of 1945, nearly one year after Paris was liberated, Picasso returned to the Côte d’Azur for the first time since the war had begun. The renewed contact with the sun, sand and light of the Mediterranean ushered in a new phase for the artist. While there, he was introduced to Suzanne and Georges Ramié, artisans who were trying to revive the ancient pottery industry in the town of Vallauris, one of many efforts at the time to restore France’s wounded national pride in the aftermath of the war. Through the Ramiés, Picasso had space, supplies and skilled ceramicists at his disposal to push the boundaries of what could be created with clay and terracotta.
Picasso had purchased “La Californie,” an Art Nouveau villa built around 1900 that overlooked Cannes and the Mediterranean, in the summer of 1955—it was the first home that he acquired for himself in the south. "La Galloise," the house in Vallauris that he had bought for Françoise Gilot, and where he had lived since the summer of 1948, was too small to accommodate his burgeoning output and the many works he wanted to move from his pre-war studio and storage spaces in Paris. His relationship with Françoise had ended during the summer of 1953, and although legal title to "La Galloise" remained hers, he continued to reside there after Françoise and their children Claude and Paloma, returned to Paris. Picasso began living with Jacqueline Roque in September 1954; finding a new home was an essential step in marking this momentous change in his domestic life.
Picasso moved into "La Californie" during the early fall of 1955, and quickly set up his studio in the spacious, high-ceilinged room on the second floor above the entrance. Flooded with light from a southern exposure, this space opened out through a set of French doors onto a balcony that overlooked a garden below, which included several tall palm trees. "La Californie" became the locus of Picasso’s creative activity for the next three-and-a half years.
Picasso’s time at Madoura led to a series of small-scale sculptures, subsequently cast in very small edition sizes, typically only two casts. These sculptures are often of faces, fauns or animals, created by Picasso rolling, stretching, and pinching pliant clay in the free-spirited way a child might play with putty. Though created with the most basic of tools, Femme au collier is a sophisticated work, which demonstrates the artist’s mastery of the medium.
Picasso had purchased “La Californie,” an Art Nouveau villa built around 1900 that overlooked Cannes and the Mediterranean, in the summer of 1955—it was the first home that he acquired for himself in the south. "La Galloise," the house in Vallauris that he had bought for Françoise Gilot, and where he had lived since the summer of 1948, was too small to accommodate his burgeoning output and the many works he wanted to move from his pre-war studio and storage spaces in Paris. His relationship with Françoise had ended during the summer of 1953, and although legal title to "La Galloise" remained hers, he continued to reside there after Françoise and their children Claude and Paloma, returned to Paris. Picasso began living with Jacqueline Roque in September 1954; finding a new home was an essential step in marking this momentous change in his domestic life.
Picasso moved into "La Californie" during the early fall of 1955, and quickly set up his studio in the spacious, high-ceilinged room on the second floor above the entrance. Flooded with light from a southern exposure, this space opened out through a set of French doors onto a balcony that overlooked a garden below, which included several tall palm trees. "La Californie" became the locus of Picasso’s creative activity for the next three-and-a half years.
Picasso’s time at Madoura led to a series of small-scale sculptures, subsequently cast in very small edition sizes, typically only two casts. These sculptures are often of faces, fauns or animals, created by Picasso rolling, stretching, and pinching pliant clay in the free-spirited way a child might play with putty. Though created with the most basic of tools, Femme au collier is a sophisticated work, which demonstrates the artist’s mastery of the medium.