Created in 1950 at the Madoura pottery studio in Vallauris, Pablo Picasso Large Vase with Dancers stands as a masterful fusion of form, movement, and celebration. The monumental vessel becomes a stage upon which an unbroken frieze of joyous, stylized figures twirl and sway, their limbs exaggerated into rhythmic arcs that echo the curvature of the vase itself.

Executed in Picasso’s unmistakable, fluid line, the dancers seem to pulse with vitality, evoking the timeless rituals of Mediterranean festivals and the ancient union of art, music, and the human body in motion. The interplay of earthy terracotta tones and hand-painted accents animates the surface, creating a lively dialogue between the physical heft of the ceramic and the airy lightness of the dance. While deeply rooted in classical tradition—its format recalling Greek kraters adorned with bacchanalian scenes—the work is thoroughly modern in its playful distortion and bold abstraction. In Large Vase with Dancers, Picasso transforms the static medium of clay into a living celebration of movement, joy, and communal spirit, capturing the eternal rhythm of life in a single, radiant object.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Pablo Picasso Large vase with dancers, 1950 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices accompanying the final sale of the work):

1. Ramié, Alain. Picasso Catalogue of the edited ceramic works 1947-1971. Madoura: Galerie Madoura, 1988. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 117.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.