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Email to FriendSigned Pablo Picasso, Unique Sculpture, Maschera Bacco (Bacchus Mask), 1962  |
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| Artist: | Picasso, Pablo (1881 - 1973) |
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| Title: | Maschera Bacco (Bacchus Mask), 1962 |
| Medium: | Virtually Unique Original Glass Sculpture |
| Image Size: | 10 1/5 in x 9 2/5 in (26 cm x 24 cm) |
| Framed Size: | approx. 20 in x 20 in (50.8 cm x 50.8 cm) |
| Signed: | This work is inscribed on the bottom, 'E. Costantini Pablo Picasso Fucina degli angeli Venezia 1/3 1962.' |
| Edition: | A virtually unique work, this piece is from an edition of three. |
| Condition: | This work is in very good condition. |
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Gallery Price
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Item# 3964
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Picasso's image of the sly, bearded god of revelry evokes wine-filled parties of abandon. Expressive eyebrows crown the devilish face of Bacchus, whose life's devotion is mischief. |
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| Historical Description: | |
The figure of Bacchus, god of the harvest, wine and ritual madness, fascinated Picasso from an early point in his career. Bacchanals, satyrs, fauns and other mythic creatures populate many of his artworks. The theme arises in unexpected ways in his oeuvre; the artist created Triumph of Pan in response to the armed insurrection of Parisians against the Nazi occupiers in August 1944, months before the liberation. While our glass sculpture may have little to do with this wild bacchanal based on Poussin's painting of the same title from 1636, the comparison adds another dimension to the theme. Picasso sees many facets in revelry. In this glass relief sculpture, he emphasizes the humorous side of Bacchus while maintaining classic aspects of his identity, such as his full beard. Created in 1962, this original glass sculpture was created by Pablo Picasso (Malaga, 1881 - Mougins, 1973) in collaboration with Fucina Angeli, Venice. This virtually unique glass sculpture is one of only three, and is inscribed on the bottom, 'E. Costantini Pablo Picasso Fucina degli angeli Venezia 1/3 1962.' An example from this edition was exhibited between October 19 - December 15, 1996 at the Cultural Association in Fattidarte, Italy. Picasso's Glass Art: Picasso's relationship with Egidio Costantini echoes his partnership with the Madoura Pottery in Vallauris, France. The two men initially met in Vallauris in 1954, though their working relationship would begin a few years later, due in part to Peggy Guggenheim's invitation for Picasso to come to Venice. While Suzanne and Georges Ramié created large editions based on original prototypes created by Picasso, Constantini translated the artist's drawings into glass sculptures produced in very limited editions. This master of La Fucina degli Angeli (the Forge of the Angels), Murano, transformed the centuries-old tradition of Italian glass blowing into a modern art. A 1965 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, recognized the importance of these rare sculptures, which are housed in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, amongst other notable collections. Catalogue Raisonné & COA: 1. Egidio costantini e i suoi artisti: sculture in vetro della Fucina degli Angeli. Italy: Fattidarte Associazione Culturale, 1996. One of the 3 examples of this work listed and illustrated on pp. 88-9. 2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work. 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.
