Pablo Picasso, Petit Buste de Femme (Little Bust of Woman), 1964 A.R. 523

Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
Title:Petit Buste de Femme (Little Bust of Woman), 1964
Reference:A.R. 523
Medium:Madoura rectangular plaque of red earthenware clay printed with engobe pad (black)
Image Size:13 in x 9 7/8 in (33 cm x 25 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 100.
Signature:This work is stamped with the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' and 'EMPREINTE ORIGINALE DE PICASSO' pottery stamps on the reverse.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #w-5041

Historical Description

A remarkably detailed image of a beautiful and mysterious woman, Pablo Picasso ceramic Petit Buste de Femme (Little Bust of Woman), 1964 A.R. 523, maintains the beautifully saturated black engobe printing and pristine markings on the reverse. The woman turns her head slightly to the viewer's right, denying the viewer a confrontational head-on view. She smiles slightly, gazing at something beyond the viewer. Picasso juxtaposes delicate, closely placed vertical lines with strong horizontals, particularly along the right border, and frames the beautiful woman in varied linear patterns, as if she is gazing out from a window. Picasso ceramic Little Bust of Woman is part of a grouping of Picasso ceramic plaques that were made from linocuts in 1964. To make the image, the clay is impressed on a plaster mould. In the case of Petit Buste de Femme, the plaster mould was cast from an engraving on linoleum. The original engraving was meant to be printed on paper, but was instead used to make a clay impression. This leads to a confluence of mediums in this work, which is ceramic, but retains some of the artistic elements that linocuts do.

Created in 1964, this original Madoura rectangular plaque is made of red earthenware clay, printed with engobe pad in black. This artwork is stamped with the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' and 'EMPREINTE ORIGINALE DE PICASSO' pottery stamps on the reverse; from the total numbered edition of 100.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Pablo Picasso ceramic Little Bust of Woman (Petit Buste De Femme) 1964 A.R. 523, 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. Bloch, Georges, Picasso Tome III Catalogue de l'oeuvre grave céramique 1949-1971, 1972, listed as catalogue no 169.

2. Ramié, Alain, Picasso: Catalogue of the edited ceramic works 1947 - 1971, 1988, listed as catalogue no 523.

3. Ramié, Georges. (1976) Picasso Ceramics. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné number 633.