In 1946, Pablo Picasso visited an exhibition of ceramics in Vallauris, an area in southeastern France known for its many potteries. He would move to the region soon after, establishing a steady relationship with the Madoura ceramics workshop in 1948. It was a watershed moment for Picasso, who throughout his long life was always on the lookout for new artistic challenges in all conceivable materials. Picasso s experiments with various ceramic materials, oxides and glazes would produce a huge body of work: some 4,000 ceramic objects bearing the motifs of animals, fauns and women evoked through Picasso s whimsical, elegant handling of shape and line. This major body of work in ceramics forms a lesser-known but highly original part of the oeuvre of an artist who was constantly reinventing himself and his forms.
This book presents more than 150 of Picasso s most important ceramic works reproduced in beautiful four-colour printing, as well as new texts about the artist s pieces in this medium. The book also contains a detailed glossary of ceramic terms and a review of the forms most commonly used by Picasso. The only book in print on this beautiful and highly imaginative part of Picasso s oeuvre, Picasso: Ceramics is an essential volume.