Picasso’s Romance With Ceramics

Quite often we become a fan of some kind of glass and we collect and collect, aiming higher for that better piece, but once in a while, we find something that, while completely unattainable, still excites our interest and makes us ardent fans. I learned a great deal about the artist Picasso in this way..  by a marriage between his stylistic art and a medium I could appreciate.. ceramics..

June of 2007 brought that to me, in the guise of a display of Picasso’s ceramics that was taking place at the Bellagio Gallery in Las Vegas.

I had up until that point, never really considered Picasso as anything more than a painter, whose works were admirable, but in reality, not exactly my cup of tea.

As an artist, and quite often as a man if his love life was anything to go on, Picasso was somewhat easily distracted by the next thing to come along, but that can’t be true of his love of ceramic work, which was a hobby that filled his life from the time he discovered it until his death in 1973.

In 1947 Picasso went to Vallauris, with a companion, and there discovered the ceramic work that would remain with him until his death. Georges Ramie owned a pottery workshop that he gave up an entire second floor of to Picasso, who pursued the creating of his ceramics, making zoomorphic creations, figures of animals and other things that although they don’t garner the enthusiasm of his paintings, are nothing short of spectacular.

He appears to investigate new methods of using color, new ways to use the ceramic medium to achieve somewhat the same dramatic effects that we see in his paintings.

His pieces are far less practical than many that we see, but are testament to his great talent in all aspects of art.
According to those in the know, the exhibit I was fortunate enough to luck into, was only the second of its kind in the United States, with the other being at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about 8 years earlier.

Although Picasso’s paintings and sculptures garner international attention, his ceramics .. not so much.. yet it was one of his great loves and accordingly, he was quite prolific in the production of ceramics. As one expert says, "whenever you see historical photos of Picasso, you will find plates stacked up or a ceramic figurine in a corner.

As lovers of glass and ceramic wares, I strongly encourage you to visit any display you may find of Picasso’s ceramics, which will give you a wonderful glimpse of the art of Picasso and the hobby that stayed with him for decades.

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