Pablo Picasso Ceramics

It was not for the first time that in the summer of 1946, Pablo Picasso picked up clay and began to work. Two early ceramics exist from the late 1800’s, which Picasso crafted and used to hold his paints – a custom at the time. He played with the medium a little more through the next fifteen odd years, but the true emergence of Picasso ceramics can be traced to the summer of 1946. Picasso and Françoise Gilot were on holiday in Vallauris, France when Picasso came in touch with Georges and Suzanne Ramié, owners of the Madoura pottery studio. Upon their first meeting at the studio, Picasso decorated 2-3 pieces.

Picasso returned to the studio the next summer and from then avidly created a wide variety of ceramic masterpieces. Picasso ceramics (also referred to as Picasso Madoura Ceramics or Picasso Pottery) are an immense artistic achievement in variety, technique, decoration, and form, which stay true to the artistic genius of their creator.

Pablo Picasso Lithographs

Picasso was known to experiment with and push the boundaries of any medium that he worked in. In this same way, Picasso created in lithography. Early Picasso lithographs were very linear, and based heavily on lines. It is later during his period of printing at Mourlot, that Picasso was able to achieve the more painterly lithographs. The printers at Mourlot would marvel at the way he worked with the plates, sometimes thinking to themselves that there was surely no way his art would be successful. Yet in the end, Picasso’s artistic vision always overcame the perceived limitations of the medium. In one instance, Picasso set out to print an image of a bull. He started with a full, hefty form of a bull, and worked his way through 11 versions (taking test prints of each) until he finished on a simple, linear bull. The artistic genius of Picasso could seemingly not be stopped and his vast oeuvre of lithographs is a testament to that fact.

Marc Chagall Lithographs

Renowned for his exquisite use of color, lithography was the perfect medium for Chagall to express his artistic visions. Chagall was first introduced to lithography in Berlin in the early 1920’s. The only type available to him then was black lithography, which did not do much to enchant him. After a brief brush with color lithographs in New York for Arabian Nights, Chagall came to France and to Fernand Mourlot to master the art of lithography. Chagall was partnered with Charles Sorlier, and the two would have a lasting and fruitful professional relationship. Chagall was passionate about color, and lithography allowed him the freedom to experiment with vibrant colors more than any other medium he had encountered. Works like the Daphnis and Chloe (1960) series, Carmen (1966), and Magic Flute (1967) are grandiose in their use of color – the intensity of it is unique to the oeuvre of Chagall.  The fantastical Chagall lithographs draw on his favorite themes of history, romance, and mythology.

Pablo Picasso Linocuts

Picasso is rightly hailed as one of the most influential and creative artists of the 20^th Century. His artistic prowess extended across many mediums, and is highlighted in his printmaking skills – especially Picasso Linocuts. Picasso was introduced to linoleum cuts (or linocuts) when he was living in Vallauris, France. Every year, Picasso would contribute posters for the bullfighting and ceramic fairs in Vallauris. Hidalgo Arnera, a printmaker in Vallauris, suggested that Picasso use linocut for these posters, as it was more economical. Picasso proceeded to experiment with and push the new technique of linocut until he had mastered it.

Linoleum, more pliable than wood, stands up to many techniques, both coarse and delicate. This allowed for Picasso to unleash his artistic energy into the new medium. Linocut also changed the sensation of the colors, which fascinated Picasso because it was so different from other mediums he’d worked with. Many of the Picasso linocuts are astonishing bursts of color, all the more astounding due to the technical skill that goes into carving the multiple plates needed for a multi-color composition.

Sam Francis Monotype’s, Lithographs, Watercolor and Acrylics 

Sam Francis is known for his abstracted work executed in bold colors. Francis treated the lithographic process differently than most, using the proofing stage to create his artistic vision, rather than to correct it. His printmaking is linked to his painting and drawing, but does not come from them. Inevitably, they influence one another – after doing lithography Francis started painting with his canvases on the floor. There is no real sense of straight progression in Francis’ oeuvre, but a never-ending quest to continue to explore and experiment with new colors, forms, and arrangements. Francis’ work with etching is defined by large swaths of black, against which his use of vibrant colors pops.

Francis is very famous for his work with monotypes – a combination of printmaking and painting where pigments are applied to a surface, and then covered by paper and pressed to print the pigments onto the other paper. This technique also allowed Francis to experiment with layering and further explore the intricate connection between his painting and printmaking. Such an interesting combination of techniques encapsulates Francis’ approach to art-making. Sam Francis also made unique acrylics, watercolors,  works on paper which have the same vibrancy of his unique monotypes.

Joan Miró Etchings Aquatints Carborundums

Joan Miró’s incredible body of work would not be complete without a discussion of Miró aquatints and carborundums. Extremely proficient in the art of printmaking, Miró used a special technique that combined aquatints and carborundums to achieve both dazzling color and rich texture in his final prints. Aquatint is a technique that allows for vast ranges of color and the end product is a watercolor effect –this effect is an essential piece of many Miró aquatints. Carborundum is a technique that is used to create an embossing effect, which raises the paper to make texture. The combination of these two creates captivating prints that are multi-faceted and technically complex.

Miró was known for overlaying especially these two techniques, which showed just how skilled he was in printmaking and how delicately he used and manipulated the medium to create masterpieces.

Rembrandt Etchings

Serving as the forefather of the Dutch printmaking Renaissance, Rembrandt van Rijn is one of our personal favorites. More widely known for his stunning paintings that are featured in museums all over the world, Rembrandt etchings and engravings are highly underrated. They are a true testament to Rembrandt’s range as an artist and printmaker, having been able to translate his mastery of light and playfulness with shadow in all of his prints featured here in our collection.

The Hundred Guilder Print remains the most famous and desirable Rembrandt etching to date. Noted Rembrandt scholar Christopher White describes this astounding work as “the apotheosis of Rembrandt’s activity in etching in the 1640’s, and according to popular opinion of his whole career” (White, Rembrandt as Etcher, 57).

White further traces the origin of the title to a print seller named Mariette, who sold an impression of this print to Rembrandt himself for 100 guilders. The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. occasionally displays this masterpiece.

Albrecht Dürer Ecthings and Woodcuts

Albrecht Dürer was first introduced to woodcutting in 1486 when he apprenticed in the workshop of Michael Wolgemut who, during those years, was cutting blocks for book illustrations. Woodcuts are etchings in a wood block that are then used to print that image onto paper. Woodcuts allow for rapid reproduction – good for the type of illustrating that Dürer did during his career – and also stood up better than engravings for large editions. After leaving Wolgemut’s workshop, Dürer went traveling, making drawings for cuts on the way. Dürer broke from illustrating in Italy between 1495-1500 when 3 large woodcuts show that he had stopped working in the miniature scale, and also that his subjects were no longer bound by text.

Frustrated by what he felt to be failed attempts at painting, Dürer put his immense creative energy into woodcuts between 1509-1512 – producing his ‘Great Books’ during what some call his Classic period. Dürer woodcuts popularized the art form and their influence has lasted into the present.

Andy Warhol Screen Prints

Andy Warhol, herald of the 20^th Century Pop art movement, turned to screen printing in the 1960’s in order to mass produce his art or in his words “to be a machine.” Warhol is one of a short list of artists who became very famous during their lifetimes. Warhol ventured into screen printing first by copying paintings that he had already made, and then by using images from some of his film. The subjects of Warhol screen prints later included celebrities or people of note, and his art was often perceived as social commentary. Screen printing allowed for mass production of his images, but he also subverted this idea when he made identical images that had unique coloring, resulting in editions that were at the same time identical and unique. Warhol’s Venus from Details of Renaissance Paintings, 1984 is an exquisite example of this, also showing the vibrant color that Warhol employed.