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Email to FriendPablo Picasso, Engraving Ceramic, Mains au poisson (Hands with Fish), 1953  |
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| Artist: | Picasso, Pablo (1881 - 1973) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mains au poisson (Hands with Fish), 1953 |
| Reference: | Ramié 215 |
| Medium: | Red earthenware clay with deep engraving painted in white, russet, and black engobes under partial brushed glaze |
| Image Size: | Diameter: 12 3/4 in (32.4 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 23 1/2 in x 23 1/2 in (59.7 cm x 59.7 cm) |
| Signed: | With hand inscription on the underside of the plate, 'I 118 | 129/250 | Madoura' |
| Edition: | From the edition of 250; numbered on the underside of the plate 129/250 with Madoura archive number, I 118 (see above) |
| Condition: | The delicate surface retains remarkable freshness with clear markings, this work is in wonderful condition. |
| Gallery Price: Item# 2478 | Sorry, this item is sold. Please visit the rest of our Picasso fine art collection |
| Historical Description: | |
|---|---|
This vividly stunning and incredibly engaging ceramic gives the illusion of pulling in its viewers; the entry of the two hands from the top and bottom of the composition create a highly stimulating, optical effect. The fish, central to the work, sets a colorful and contrasting background to the hands that grasp it from either end. The delicate, hand-applied engobe designs accentuate the work’s texturization that breathe life and movement into the piece when viewed under various angles of light. It is a delicately whimsical work whose concave nature of its medium serves to complement the writhing fish beneath the stead grasp of the hands. Created in 1953, this original red earthenware clay ceramic is inscribed on the reverse with the hand inscribed archive and edition number from Madoura, ‘I 118 | 129/250 | Madoura’. From the total edition of 250 works produced. Illustrated in:
About the Framing: | |
| Style: | Cubism, Blue Period, Rose Period, 20th Century Spanish Modern Master, Madoura ceramics of Vallauris, Vollard |
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Biography of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
"Yet Cubism and Modern art weren't either scientific or intellectual; they were visual and came from the eye and mind of one of the greatest geniuses in art history. Pablo Picasso, born in Spain, was a child prodigy who was recognized as such by his art-teacher father, who ably led him along. The small Museo de Picasso in Barcelona is devoted primarily to his early works, which include strikingly realistic renderings of casts of ancient sculpture.
"He was a rebel from the start and, as a teenager, began to frequent the Barcelona cafes where intellectuals gathered. He soon went to Paris, the capital of art, and soaked up the works of Manet, Gustave Courbet, and Toulouse-Lautrec, whose sketchy style impressed him greatly. Then it was back to Spain, a return to France, and again back to Spain - all in the years 1899 to 1904.
"Before he struck upon Cubism, Picasso went through a prodigious number of styles - realism, caricature, the Blue Period, and the Rose Period. The Blue Period dates from 1901 to 1904 and is characterized by a predominantly blue palette and subjects focusing on outcasts, beggars, and prostitutes. This was when he also produced his first sculptures. The most poignant work of the style is in Cleveland's Museum of Art, La Vie (1903), which was created in memory of a great childhood friend, the Spanish poet Casagemas, who had committed suicide. The painting started as a self-portrait, but Picasso's features became those of his lost friend. The composition is stilted, the space compressed, the gestures stiff, and the tones predominantly blue. Another outstanding Blue Period work, of 1903, is in the Metropolitan, The Blind Man's Meal. Yet another example, perhaps the most lyrical and mysterious ever, is in the Toledo Museum of Art, the haunting Woman with a Crow (1903).
"The Rose Period began around 1904 when Picasso's palette brightened, the paintings dominated by pinks and beiges, light blues, and roses. His subjects are saltimbanques (circus people), harlequins, and clowns, all of whom seem to be mute and strangely inactive. One of the premier works of this period is in Washington, D.C., the National Gallery's large and extremely beautiful Family of Saltimbanques dating to 1905, which portrays a group of circus workers who appear alienated and incapable of communicating with each other, set in a one-dimensional space.
"In 1905, Picasso went briefly to Holland, and on his return to Paris, his works took on a classical aura with large male and fernale figures seen frontally or in distinct profile, almost like early Greek art. One of the best of these of 1906 is in the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, NY, La Toilette. Several pieces in this new style were purchased by Gertrude (the art patron and writer) and her brother, Leo Stein.
Picasso enjoyed creating his art on many media. From paintings to etchings to ceramics, all of his works are a testament to his skills. There are even Picasso prints that are worth more than unique original works.
