.jpg?w=1)
Property from the Collection of Lee V. Eastman
In the summer of 1937, following the painting of the mural Guernica and its installation in the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition, Picasso and Dora Maar stayed in the small hilltop village of Mougins, near Cannes, where, thirty years laters, he would make his final home. The poet Paul Eluard and his wife Nusch were living nearby. One day, while exploring the countryside by car, they entered the town of Vallauris, whose main industry since Roman times had been the making of ceramics. Roland Penrose, who was frequently with Picasso that summer, wrote, "they wandered into one of the many potteries where vessels of many kinds were being thrown on the wheel in traditional style. The ease with which the craftsman could make the clay obey his manipulations delighted them. Picasso understood at once that he had come across a new field to explore, but he did not begin there and then. The hope that was born that day was in fact to be realized, but not until ten years later" (in Picasso: His Life and Work, third ed., Berkeley, 1981, p. 292).
The ceramics industry in Vallauris had fallen on hard times by the end of the Second World War. Picasso was staying in Golfe-Juan with Françoise Gilot during the summer of 1946 when he finally returned to Vallauris to view the annual potters' exhibition there. The artist met Georges and Suzanne Ramié, the owners of the Madoura pottery, in their display stall. Alain Ramié, their son, recalled that his parents "then welcomed him in the Madoura Pottery workshop. He thus readily entered that day, grappling with the fresh clay and modeling two subjects which were left to be dried and baked. One year later Picasso came back and asked about his two pieces. Much to his delight, they were shown to him in excellent condition. He at once asked to get back to work" (in A. Ramié, Picasso, Catalogue of the edited ceramic works 1947-71, Madoura, 1988, p. 9).
Picasso made numerous unique ceramics, and the Ramiés devised techniques by which the artist's designs could be faithfully replicated, and created in editions, like prints, as seen in the following lots. Penrose wrote, "The project for reaching a wider public made Picasso enthusiastic. It gave employment to the local craftsmen and greatly increased the numbers of those who could enjoy his work. However, as time passed, the utilitarian aspect of ceramics was submerged by delight in the medium as a form of art which combines the elements of polychrome sculpture, painting and collage. In Vallauris Picasso had found a new playground where anything could be seduced by him into becoming a delightful toy. The solitary concentration necessary for painting could be relaxed among his family of craftsmen who were his friends. The origin of his inspiration is in fact in play, and his never-ending game with objects and ideas is an essential part of the process of creation" (in op. cit., pp. 363 and 364).
Lee V. Eastman acquired the Picasso ceramics (lots 313-328) directly from Madoura Pottery in Vallauris. Examples of each work are illustrated in Alain Ramié's Picasso, Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947-1971, Madoura, 1988. The designation (A.R.) following each title indicates the corresponding number in this catalogue raisonné.
Property from the Collection of Lee V. Eastman
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Four Polychrome Fishes (A.R. 31)
Details
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Four Polychrome Fishes (A.R. 31)
glazed white earthenware clay plate painted in colors, 1947, numbered 121/200, inscribed 'I 111', with the 'Edition Picasso' and 'Madoura Plein Feu' pottery stamps (on the reverse)
12½ x 15¼ in. (31.8 x 38.7 cm.)
Four Polychrome Fishes (A.R. 31)
glazed white earthenware clay plate painted in colors, 1947, numbered 121/200, inscribed 'I 111', with the 'Edition Picasso' and 'Madoura Plein Feu' pottery stamps (on the reverse)
12½ x 15¼ in. (31.8 x 38.7 cm.)