Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Lot n° 32

Femme au chapeau fleuri, 1964 Rectangular plate in red terracota, printed with black slipcover stampig, numbered 42/100 on reverse. Original Empreinte de Picasso/Madoura plein feu 33 x 25.5 cm 12 63/64 x 9 27/32 in. Pablo Picasso  Widely known to the general public as a painter and founder of cubism, Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga in 1881. A noted artist, he is also a painter, sculptor, engraver and one of the most eminent artists of the 20th century, both for his technical and formal contributions and for his political positions. After the Second World War, Picasso set off for the French Riviera, and stayed in Vallauris from 1948 to 1955, known for its pottery industry. For Picasso, the Vallauris years correspond to the family happiness found after the drama of the war. A moment of peace in the life of the artist, he then experienced a new technique; ceramics, which he integrated in the continuity of his pictorial quest. Picasso’s stay at the Madoura pottery is marked by a prolific ceramic creation, which he sometimes mixes with the usual techniques that are dear to him, such as painting, engraving and sculpture. Plates, dishes, pitchers and other utensils are decorated by the artist who, with «some skillfully produced twists, transformed them into animal or female nude, fauna or tanagra». Picasso thus upsets the lexicon of ceramic creation. In this language of clay and clay, the artist does not forget the recurring themes of his work; such as the woman with the hat of which he makes a plaque in earthenware red. This plural motif sometimes depicts Jacqueline, his last wife of which he made nearly four hundred portraits..