Pablo Picasso Tête de chèvre de profil (Goat's Head in Profile), 1952 A.R. 153, is a vibrant and highly expressive ceramic created during Picasso’s celebrated collaboration with the renowned Madoura Pottery in Vallauris. The composition presents a spirited goat rendered in bold relief and richly colored glazes, its animated eye and elongated profile giving the creature an unmistakable sense of personality and movement. Picasso’s lively brushwork and incised textures animate the surface, while playful decorative elements—such as swirling vegetal motifs and a bright yellow banana—infuse the work with humor and imaginative charm. The earthy ground, accented by vibrant greens, browns, and blacks, enhances the sculptural depth of the goat’s form, transforming the ceramic plate into a dynamic portrait that blurs the boundary between painting and sculpture. Inspired by animals that surrounded Picasso in Vallauris, including his beloved pet goat Esmeralda, the work captures the artist’s fascination with nature and his ability to imbue even the simplest subjects with vitality, wit, and character.

Picasso’s ceramics from Vallauris represent one of the most innovative chapters in modern art, redefining what could be achieved in clay by a major twentieth-century master. Beginning in 1947, Picasso embraced the ceramic medium with extraordinary freedom, producing thousands of works that transformed traditional pottery into imaginative works of fine art. Today these ceramics are widely recognized as an essential part of Picasso’s artistic legacy and are held in the permanent collections of the world’s leading institutions, including the Musée National Picasso-Paris, The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Modern. Works such as Tête de chèvre de profil are especially prized for their bold imagery and sculptural presence, making them among the most desirable and museum-worthy examples of Picasso’s celebrated ceramic oeuvre.

Created in 1952, Pablo Picasso Tête de chèvre de profil (Goat's Head in Profile), 1952 A.R. 153 is a Madoura white earthenware clay round/square dish with decoration in engobes (black, green, yellow, russet, beige patina) under partial brushed glaze. From the edition of 100, this work is stamped with the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' and 'EMPREINTE ORIGINALE DE PICASSO' stamps on the reverse.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Pablo Picasso Tête de chèvre de profil (Goat's Head in Profile), 1952 A.R. 153 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. 153 on pg. 85.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.