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The Beauty in the Fiery Beast: Picasso’s Wonderful Obsession with Pottery

Picasso and Suzanne Raime

What makes owning a Picasso ceramic so enticing? Why are they in such demand?  To understand the Picasso ceramics story, one must go back to the beginning, to the summer of 1946, when the artist was staying in the south of France and chose to visit a crafts fair. At the fair Picasso noticed the works of Madoura potters and asked Georges and Suzanne Ramie, who operated the studio, to provide him with the opportunity to work with ceramics and the rest as we all know is history.

Picasso at the Madoura Studio

From 1947 to 1971 the Ramies set aside space in their studio for Picasso to pot whenever he pleased. In return, Picasso allowed the Ramies to make and sell editions of the ceramic pieces he produced at Madoura, and to retain all profits. Picasso personally made thousands of individual ceramic pieces, and kept virtually all of his own thrown pieces, most of which are now owned by his family or by museums. This consumption with the medium is best described by Georges Ramie, “This inner force that takes passion of him hastens his inventive progress in an effort to assuage this unquenchable thirst to express the message of the moment. To express it but also to consume it, in the course of long duration in which an obsessive theme is taken up again and again in proliferating and continually renewed variations, reflecting the teeming intensity of the changing aspects of the composition.” (pg. 19)

Picasso painting one of his many ceramics….

The Madoura studio and Picasso together produced 4,000 different plates, bowls, vases, pitchers, and other forms in limited editions ranging from 25 to 500.  Picasso’s involvement in producing the objects varied. Sometimes he made the clay molds used for designs, while other times he painted on plates or pitchers taken from the drying racks. Picasso and Madoura’s artisans then finished the prototypes and produced the editions, each distinctly identifiable as coming from the imagination of Picasso.

Picasso had such a passion for the medium and certainly enhanced his skills as an artisan as can be seen in the craftsmanship that has lasted over 60 years, both in value and beauty. As Georges Ramie states, “he gave himself up to it heart and soul, with that tireless vehemence he brought to everything, the indomitable ardor of those vocations that are all the more fruitful for being slow to appear. And it was from that moment- and thanks to the prestige of the work Picasso was yet to do- that ceramics, which many had always considered a minor art, began to enjoy an eminence hitherto unsuspected and now universally admitted” (pg. 17).  A wonderful balance between tradition, innovation, partnership and creativity, it is not hard to understand why Picasso’s ceramics are so universally collected and cherished.

 

Masters of Printmaking: Picasso and His Original Lithographs

There is no denying that Pablo Picasso (Malaga, 1881 – Mougins, 1973) is the greatest artist of the 20th century. Loved and admired around the world, Picasso’s artworks are a symbol of creativity and ingenuity.  Ranging from paintings, ceramics, glass, lithography, linocuts and etchings, everything Picasso created from Cubism to Modern Art inspired and influenced every artist who worked alongside him and after him.

Pablo Picasso's Original Lithograph "L'étreinte (The Embrace)"

The importance of Picasso’s work and the longevity of its value are what make his artwork the most sought after works on the art market today. Picasso was an inventor, and loved to explore different mediums and processes as it allowed for a creative input and controlled output. Renowned for his immense skill and range as an artist, Picasso mastered the art of printmaking. His stunning original lithographs are amongst the most brilliant works in his artistic oeuvre.  Representative of his varied artistic styles, Picasso’s lithographs depict images and techniques that extend from his brief post-Impressionistic period to Cubism and beyond.

Pablo Picasso's Original Lithograph "Nature morte à l'aubergine (Still Life with Eggplant), 1946"

As some background, a lithograph is a printmaking process where the design is drawn or painted on a flat surface of a stone with a greasy crayon or ink. The design is chemically fixed on the stone with a weak solution and in printing, the stone is flooded with water which is absorbed everywhere except where repelled by the greasy ink. Oil-based printer’s ink is then rolled on the stone, which is repelled in turn by the water-soaked areas and accepted only by the drawn design. A piece of paper is laid on the stone and it is run through the press with light pressure, the final print showing neither a raised nor embossed quality but lying entirely on the surface of the paper. The artist, in this case Picasso, would then hand-sign the work to show his approval and claim ownership.

Pablo Picasso's Original Lithograph "Dwarf Dancer, 1966"

Picasso himself was rather involved in his lithography process as he enjoyed improving upon it, and his art, by adding different colors or mixing up materials. Take our Still Life with Eggplant (1946) original lithograph as an example. Cool tones are mixed with vibrant colors that combine to convey the texture of paint, clearly depicting Picasso’s soft, swirling strokes. Or in our newest addition, L’étreinte (1966), that beautifully depicts the influence art nouveau and impressionism had on Picasso with softer, less abstract edges, and almost pastel like brush marks. In the striking original lithograph, Dwarf Dancer from the ‘Barcelona’ suite (1966), Picasso utilizes the brush in an energetic layering of pure hues to create a vibrant scene full of motion and activity.

Pablo Picasso's Original Lithograph "L'Attente (The Wait), 1966"

Full of rich painterly texture and impressionistic use of color the original lithograph, L’Attente (1966) illustrates the delicacy and grace Picasso used to portray his female models. Picasso perfectly captures the essence of his subjects, creating a work instilled with a sense of intrigue and emotion. Perhaps this ability to clearly depict the nature of his subjects from his vast and creative viewpoints is what best defines Picasso’s stunning original lithographs.

 

Watermarks and Rembrandts

When Masterworks Fine Art acquires an artwork, we undertake a program of research and identification. Old Masters prints, such as those by Rembrandt, require special attention because documentation can be limited, works often exist in multiple states, and posthumous prints made from plates still in existence are on the market.

When researching a Rembrandt impression, we consider the image and sheet size, the type of paper on which the work is printed, and the watermark (if there is one). We consult Nowell-Eusticke, the authoritative catalogue raisonné for the artist, compare our results against the volumes by Hind and White & Boon, and turn to the recently-published Watermarks in Rembrandt’s Prints by Ash & Fletcher. These books describe, in one way or another, differences large and small between each printing of a single plate.

Rembrandt experimented with the effects of printing on different kinds of paper, and is known to have used vellum, calfskin parchment, creamy handmade European papers, coarse “oatmeal” papers made from the dregs of the papermaking vat, and the thicker, softer “Japan” paper (Ash & Fletcher, 11).  Not all of these papers were made with watermarks or wire marks, as they are also known, but those that were can provide insight into the time frame in which a print was pulled.

As methodical studies of watermarks found in the graphic work of specific artists appear, the identification of these marks becomes increasingly valuable. It is a rare day when we uncover a full watermark on a newly acquired print. Finding even the tip of a crown or a partial cluster of grapes enables us to match that fragment to a documented watermark. If we can nail down what paper the work is on, we can at least be certain that the impression was not pulled before a certain date.

How does this relate to Rembrandt?

Say we determine that a certain watermark was produced in the early 18th century. A Rembrandt etching on that particular paper couldn’t possibly be a lifetime impression, given the artist’s death in 1669. Ash and Fletcher note: “Our research often revealed the use of the same paper in the same print or in prints produced within a few years of each other” (15). That being said, they continue, “Rembrandt may have purchased certain papers in quantity, saved them, and used them intermittently over the years” (Ibid). This passage underscores the difficulty Rembrandt scholars face in assigning prints an exact date. Though helpful, a paper’s dates of creation do not necessarily dictate the time frame for the printing of a specific state. A plate may have been etched one year and printed the next. It may also have been reprinted a decade later.

Information obtained through a watermark about a paper’s country of origin, dates of manufacture, and import history can narrow the time frame for an impression and authenticate the work. However, sometimes our search for a wire mark leaves us empty-handed, and we turn to determining the state of the print.

Investing in Art in a Smoke-and-Mirrors Financial Market

The stock market is in marked decline and bonds are showing pitifully low returns. Interest rates are at a minimum, as low as .5% in some countries. Given that the sub-prime mortgage fiasco kicked off this recession in the first place, real estate has not been looking too attractive as a haven for liquid assets.

To be sure, the national spectacle that was the debt ceiling crisis did not help things. Ending just hours before the United States ran out of money to pay its bills, the problem has actually been delayed, not resolved. Fitch Ratings warned that though the debt ceiling agreement reached Congress represents a step in the right direction, the U.S. still lacks, “a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit to a level that would secure [its] AAA status over the medium-term.” The threat still remains that the country’s credit rating may take a dive, fueled by lenders’ concerns that $14 trillion in debt is unsustainable.

Those who had never imagined the United States might be unable to settle its accounts are perhaps imagining a similar scenario played out in their own personal finances. For the individual, it may not be an option to file away these concerns for a later date. In the face of such an unstable financial market, investing in tangible assets can be an answer. Precious metals such as gold and silver are proving to be safe investments, having risen 16% and 30% in value respectively in 2011 alone. In the United Kingdom, you can turn to the Wine Investment Fund, where annualized returns range between 8% and 20%. And then there is the Fine Art Fund Group, whose investors are currently enjoying returns above 25%.

Even if you can’t afford the Fund’s $250,000 base level investment, individuals can build l art collections with personal and monetary value. Though numbers are tumbling right and left, the art market is going strong. Christie’s closed its Paris Contemporary Art auction at over €8.4 million ($3.8 million) on May 31, 2011, and showed similar numbers between its two Impressionist and Modern Art sales just weeks earlier. The auction giant recently hosted an entire event dedicated to Picasso ceramics, where pieces sold between $800 and $134,000. Such an extraordinary price range underscores the accessibility of art for investors with all budgets.

Whether you choose to fill your portfolio with Modern Masters such as Chagall, Miró, and Picasso, or contemporary favorites like Warhol, Yvaral, or Vasarely, you can’t go wrong.  Art is one of the few tangible assets that will simultaneously enrich your aesthetic life and ensure your financial wellbeing, over the long term.

Resources:
1. “U.S. Stocks Manage to Eke out a Gain.” New York Times. August 4, 2011.
2. “Gold, fine wine, art or under the bed: what’s the safest place for your cash?”Guardian UK. July 25, 2011.
3. Christie’s: Auction Results, May 2011.

London Calling

Impressionist and Modern sales were held this week in London with strong results. Sotheby’s ended with $157,543,910 in sales and Christie’s ended at $227,111,142. The stars of both nights were artists we currently sell. Pablo Picasso’s “Couple le Baiser” went for $10,621,070 which is 18 times higher than its previously recorded auction in 1993. Meanwhile, Picasso’s “Homme a la Pipe et Nu Couche” sold for $7,800,591.  Lastly, Picasso’s “Jeune Fille Endormie” and “Femme Assise, Robe Bleue” respectively sold for $21,866,588 and $29,133,148.

Joan Miró’s abstraction “Femme a la Voix de Rossignol dans la Nuit” sold for $7,709,608 while Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s “La Liseuse” sold for $9,165,339. “l’Empire des Lumieres,”  by René Magritte went for $3,888,313 and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s widely exhibited “La Source (Nu Allonge)” sold for $8,241,788.

European buyers have been dominating the sales, but U.S. buyers have made an impact as well. This only goes to show that art is a great investment at any price level, in any country. With the steady return of good sales, art is stronger than it has been in quite while.

Art Basel: Indications to Come?

Art Basel is often described as the world’s top fair for modern and contemporary works and it opens June 15, 2011 with over 300 galleries displaying works for a combined total worth around $1.75 billion, according to specialist insurer Hiscox.

Art Basel features galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. More than 2,500 artists, ranging from the great masters of Modern art to the latest generation of emerging stars, are represented in the show’s multiple sections. The exhibition includes the highest-quality paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and editioned works. Last year, 62,500 people attended Art 41 Basel, including art collectors, art dealers, artists, curators and other art enthusiasts.

In the VIP preview that occurred June 14, 2011 there was well over millions of dollars of art sold. Even if one does not attend the fair or collect the artists represented by the galleries, the sales at the fair are excellent indicators of the market for both price and mood. Although the art market has yet to regain the giddy heights of the boom that preceded the 2009 slump, the million-dollar sales at Art Basel tell that the market is strong and worthy of investment.

Treating Art as Stock

There is an interesting topic taking hold in the art world that has people talking and it centers around the global trend of creating Art Investment Funds. These art funds allow for individuals to make long-term investments in a portfolio of valuable artworks. What this means is that an art investment company either
a) buys particular works of art upfront whose value they believe will rise and then allows individuals to invest in the created portfolio and then upon selling the works of art will get a return OR
b) lines up individuals who put money towards purchasing art for a portfolio as an investment on the assumption that the value will increase and then upon selling the works of art will get a return.
All in all, they aim to maximize the rate of return on works in their collection.

There are many different options available besides these two but they are the most popular, as London-based Fine Art Fund displays. Fine Art Fund was the first fund of its type to invest in art as a worldwide asset class, and continues to be the only one to do so on a major international scale. However their creation is gaining in popularity as can be seen with several companies in several different countries taking a similar approach to the art market.

In Brazil, Plural Capital is an investment firm based in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo that has launched BGA Private Equity Investment Fund. This new art-fueled market venture is worth $24 million and the strategy is to buy contemporary works, mainly from Brazil, for three years, and then spend two years selling off the art it has purchased. Therefore it encourages private investors to use the contemporary art market as a financial instrument.

Russia provides another example as to this sort of investment gaining popularity, but with a twist. One art investment firm, Atlanta Art, is valued at $4.7 million and just began trading last month. But it is Sobranie.Photoeffect valued at $467 million that is has a twist in their investment plan. What makes Sobranie.Photoeffect different is that instead of raising money from wealthy individuals to buy art, it has obtained its works from a group of anonymous Russian collectors. The plan for the fund is to sell five to 10 percent of its stock at auction every year, paying its final dividends after 15 years and then ceasing to exist. Sobranie.Photoeffect deals exclusively with photographs and holds over 290,000 original prints.

Russia and Brazil are not the only examples of art investment funds, but France and China offer different variations. In China, a financial corporation has gone public with China’s first openly traded art portfolio, on the Shenzhen Cultural Assets and Equity Exchange (SZCAEE). Issued by the Shenzhen Artvip Cultural Corporation, the art portfolio comprises 12 paintings by contemporary artist Yang Peijiang in the form of 1,000 shares, which sold out on the first day of trading, netting $354,480. As the artworks are traded by Artvip, which is managing the 12 works, profits are dispersed to shareholders. The Exchange itself is interesting as it was established in 2009 by the Chinese government, but functions as an alternative platform for the trading of a wide range of cultural assets — including artworks, luxury goods, and films — as part of the Chinese government’s attempt to commercialize, diversify, and regulate the public exchange of such cultural properties.

Meanwhile in France, the French company A&F Markets has come up with a venture called Art Exchange that will treat artworks as investment vehicles, opening them up to partial purchase by shareholders. The initiative has just launched with an offer of shares in two pieces, one by Sol LeWitt and the other by Francesco Vezzoli. Now 11,000 shares of LeWitt’s “Irregular Form” are available at $13 per share, for a total value of $142,000 and 13,500 shares of Vezzoli’s “The Premiere of a Play That Will Never Run” are also offered at the same rate, giving it a total price of $174,000.

What does an art investment fund do for you? Well it provides those who cannot afford to buy expensive works of art an avenue for reaping a profit off of the art, as well as provides new buyers with an “in” into the art world. In two of the examples listed above, shareholders are even able to have the piece on display in their home on a loan so to say. Thus, in addition to sharing the potential appreciation and profits of the artwork, the artwork is being admired and enjoyed as well.

Art Market Riding High

Now, is the perfect time to invest in art. The international market is booming with great returns, and here at Masterworks we want you to get the best from your investment. That is why we are laying out the best buying markets right now so you know the worth of your investment.

Impressionist and Modern Art is holding steady in the art market. Several impressionist records were set this past week with Maurice Vlamincks Paysage de Banlieu selling for $22,482,500 (originally bought 17 years prior for $6,822,500) and Maximilien Luces’sNotre-Dame de Paris, that sold for $4,226,500. Pablo Picasso was a top seller with Les Femmes d’Alger, Version L going for $15,762,500, Homme au Mouton selling for $7,138,500, and Femmes Lisant (Deux Personages) selling for $21,362,500. All of these rare works are being offered at the perfect time for both old and new investors to enjoy.

Contemporary Turkish Art, generally sold in Dubai and London, is blossoming into the international art world as can be seen in the specialized sales held at major auction houses in April. In total, the sales in April 2011 generated $6.1m. The best results were Ömer Uluç and Erol Akyava’s painting End of Encounter, which brought in $741,000. The Whispering Wall II by Burhan Cahit Dogançay reached $375,000, and an untitled work by Orhon Mubin went for $326,000.  These results show that the Dubaian market, which is traditionally strong for Contemporary Turkish art, is now being outshined by the European segment of the market.

Contemporary Chinese Art is dominating the global art market. Many of the works are selling for quadruple of what they were estimated at. Total revenue from one auction was $46.68m. One of the highest selling contemporary artist’s is currently Zhang Xiaogang, whose Forever lasting Love (1988) sold for $9m. Only time will tell if the market continues to rise or fall, but as Chinese art buyers are actively collecting, the market looks to be a good investment.

Sonia Delaunay: On the Rise

Sonia Delaunay was born in Ukraine in 1885 and was adopted by her affluent Jewish lawyer uncle Henri Terk in 1890. She had a privileged upbringing and traveled Europe widely to various museums and galleries. At the age of 18 she was sent to an art school in Germany and in 1905 decided to move to Paris.

Once in Paris, Sonia enrolled in the Académie de la Palette in Montparnasse. However she was not happy there and tended to spend more time in the galleries around Paris. Her own work during this time was influenced by artists such as Van Gogh, Matisse, Henri Rousseau and Gauguin. In 1908 she married German homosexual art gallery owner Wilhelm Uhde. It was during her time at Uhde’s gallery that she met and had an affair with Robert Delaunay.

Sonia and Wilheim Uhde divorced in 1910, and Sonia went on to marry Robert Delaunay and have a son named Charles. Sonia is quoted as saying about Robert, “In Robert Delaunay I found a poet. A poet who wrote not with words but with colors.”

The Delaunays are often credited with the creation of Orphic Cubism or Orphism. This is a form of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors influenced by Fauvism and the dye chemist Eugène Chevreul.

Sonia, who made paintings, prints, books, textile and fashion designs, carpets, furniture, mosaics, and the odd movie set, is more often remembered as the wife of Robert Delaunay, but she is an established artist in her right, whose works today are gaining the respect of the art market.

Susan Brown, who co-curated “Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay,” on view through June 5 at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York, notes that a critical reappraisal is in the offing. “It’s my impression that she’s going to fare better in the long haul. Particularly in the past 10 years or so, there’s been a lot of focus on her work.”This can be seen in the six auction records for Sonia that were set this past year, with prices outpacing estimates.

“The demand is escalating along with prices, and the number of collectors who seek her works is also rising,” says Thaddée Poliakoff, owner of Le Coin des Arts gallery, in Paris. Sonia’s high stands at €4.1 million ($3.9 million) from a 2002 auction of the 1915-16 canvas “Marché au Minho.”

Another opportunity for collectors are Sonia’s works on paper. Prices are relatively low for her prints and gouaches, which can be purchased from our Delaunay collection. It is “Pochoirs” that command the highest prices, due to rarity. According to Tudor Davies, head of prints for Christie’s Americas, “her etchings tend to be valued more highly than her lithographs, no doubt because they provide a better sense of surface.” He advises collectors to “look at the strength of the composition and the use of color and contrast. Simply put, you want the image to be as strong visually as possible when it is on the wall.”

Information was obtained from Artist Dossier: Sonia Delaunay – ARTINFO.com

Joan Miró: A Creative Life

To most art lovers, a painting by Joan Miró is immediately recognizable. It displays botanical, geometric or abstract lines or shapes floating against celestial blue, sandy yellow or earth brown backgrounds. It also probably exudes a mystical yet reassuring dreamy quality. However interestingly enough, his personality was nothing like his work.

Miró was a highly disciplined hard working man. He spoke little and looked like the perfect bourgeois. He was orderly, reliable and punctilious. He was astonishingly versatile, willing to try almost anything. Nothing of him had any touch of a free spirited bohemian that he seemed to exhibit in his works.

In 1927, when Miró was 34 he was already a successful artist but he had a restless temperament and lived in provoking times. Surrealism, he discovered, had limitations. He was ready for a radical change in art, but he realized that he would have to create it himself. With his famous words, “I want to assassinate painting,” Miró did just that.  He took the elements out of art and stuck to the essentials. Whether he used a limited color palate or sparse geometric designs or different material he deified the essence of painting being on a canvas.

”I personally don’t know where we are heading,” Miró told a Spanish journalist in 1931. ”The only thing that’s clear to me is that I intend to destroy, destroy everything that exists in painting. I have utter contempt for painting. The only thing that interests me is the spirit itself, and I only use the customary artists’ tools — brushes, canvas and paint — in order to get the best effects. I’m only interested in anonymous art, the kind that springs from the collective unconscious.”

By the end of his long life, Miró had executed paintings and sculptures that prefigured Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Color Field painting, process art, appropriation, and even conceptualism. Ultimately he succeeded in his goal of “assassinating painting”, and left us with a canvas of brilliant colors combined with simplified forms that allow us to embrace our inner child.