(Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins)
Vase with two high handles, 1953, white, earthenware clay, engobe decoration, knife engraved under partial brushed glaze – black, white patina, from the edition of 400 examples, stamp Edition Madoura, inscribed Edition Madoura, 39 x 27.5 x 20 cm

Pablo Picasso discovered his passion for ceramics only after the end of World War II, when he was already a successful, world-famous artist. In 1946, while holidaying on the French Riviera, he visited a ceramics exhibition and was especially interested in the objects of the Madoura ceramics manufactory. After the event, Picasso accepted the invitation of Suzanne and Georges Ramié, owners of the aforementioned ceramics workshop, to model small ceramics himself in their manufactory.
In the workshop, he created two motifs from fresh clay and left them with the Ramiés to dry. When he revisited the ceramics workshop the following year, he threw himself into the ceramic arts with as much intensity as he had previously devoted to painting, drawing, and printmaking. Picasso first learned the craft from the Ramiés and developed into a master of ceramic art over time. He designed around 50 different motifs every year, which were produced, marketed and sold by the Madoura workshop in Vallauris. Picasso often designed the maquette, i.e. the ceramic preliminary design for each edition, whilst the ceramists at the manufactory would subsequently produce the editions according to it. Over more than two decades, Picasso, together with the Ramiés and their ceramists, created an extensive body of ceramic work that complements his total oeuvre in a very special way. Picasso was galvanised by the malleability and versatility of the material. His motifs were creative and playful, ranging from animals, such as owls and fish, to mythologically inspired scenes and diverse facial expressions.

Provenance:
Private Collection, Germany

Literature:
Alain Ramie, Picasso, Catalogue of the ceramic works, 1947–1971, Madoura 1988, p. 115, no. 213 (with color ill.)