Printer: Mourlot (1 of 1,000 Editions)

Dimensions: 67 x 48 cm

Condition: Very good

Available: In a oak frame

Description: Picasso’s discovery of the Madoura pottery workshop in Vallauris in 1947 opened an entirely new chapter in his career. What began as a visit to Suzanne and Georges Ramié’s studio quickly developed into a remarkable creative partnership, and over the following twenty-five years Picasso produced more than 3,500 ceramic designs, transforming everyday plates, jugs and bowls into works of art.

This original exhibition poster was published for Picasso’s 1967 exhibition at Galerie Lucie Weill in Paris and reproduces one of his celebrated ceramic plates. The image reflects the playful spirit that runs through so much of his pottery, in which birds, bulls, owls, fauns, and expressive faces become recurring themes inspired by the Mediterranean and the ancient world.

Unlike unique paintings, many of Picasso’s ceramic designs were produced as carefully supervised editions at Madoura, allowing a wider audience to own original works by the artist while maintaining the highest standards of craftsmanship. This poster captures the freedom and humour that made his ceramics one of the most inventive and accessible parts of his extraordinary career.

Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. As one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, his extraordinary artistic genius made him the ‘rock star’ of the Modern Art world pioneering cubism, surrealism, expressionism and collage. Throughout his long career, he produced more than 20,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, theatre sets, and costumes. From the mid-1940s, he also worked with the Mourlot studios in Paris and created over 400 lithographs and exhibition posters. As well as Fernand Mourlot, Henri Deschamps was Picasso's favourite and most trusted master printer at the studio and they collaborated together from 1945 right up until Picasso’s death in 1973.