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Lot Essay
Sold with a photo-certificate from Claude Ruiz-Picasso.
Throughout Picasso's work with ceramics at Vallauris, he experimented with the representation of three-dimensional objects. In this unique example, Trois Poissons, Picasso plays with illusion by trying to counteract the dip in the middle of the bowl with a shadow beneath the second fish, which is in turn disguised as the pattern on the third fish, bringing the second fish to life and making it appear to protrude out of the bowl. The imagery of the three fish can be traced back to the Ancient Greek tradition, particularly the fish plates in the Campanian style. However, instead of painting three fish around a central point, as in Greek examples, Picasso plays with form, cleverly integrating the three fish by repeating a simple shape using a neat thin line. These lines are incised into the plate, contributing particularly to the humorous character of the fish's eyes.
The present lot is one of a small number of unique plates of the same shape decorated with different fish designs during a three day period in April 1957, and recorded in Georges Ramié’s seminal survey Ceramiques de Picasso of 1975. The variation between these different recorded plates demonstrates Picasso’s absolute mastery of ceramics.
Throughout Picasso's work with ceramics at Vallauris, he experimented with the representation of three-dimensional objects. In this unique example, Trois Poissons, Picasso plays with illusion by trying to counteract the dip in the middle of the bowl with a shadow beneath the second fish, which is in turn disguised as the pattern on the third fish, bringing the second fish to life and making it appear to protrude out of the bowl. The imagery of the three fish can be traced back to the Ancient Greek tradition, particularly the fish plates in the Campanian style. However, instead of painting three fish around a central point, as in Greek examples, Picasso plays with form, cleverly integrating the three fish by repeating a simple shape using a neat thin line. These lines are incised into the plate, contributing particularly to the humorous character of the fish's eyes.
The present lot is one of a small number of unique plates of the same shape decorated with different fish designs during a three day period in April 1957, and recorded in Georges Ramié’s seminal survey Ceramiques de Picasso of 1975. The variation between these different recorded plates demonstrates Picasso’s absolute mastery of ceramics.