Pablo Picasso’s Taureau (Bull), 1956, gold medallion is a remarkable fusion of fine art and precious material, encapsulating the artist’s lifelong fascination with the bull as both a symbol of primal strength and a deeply Spanish cultural icon.

Struck in radiant gold, the medallion transcends its modest scale, carrying with it the monumental presence of the bull—an animal that had been central to Picasso’s imagery since his earliest years.

Here, the form is distilled into a bold yet elegant relief, its lines simplified with the clarity and confidence characteristic of Picasso’s mature hand. The gleam of the gold not only enhances the tactile quality of the design but also elevates the subject into a timeless emblem of power, vitality, and artistic mastery. Created during Picasso’s prolific Vallauris years, when he explored ceramics, printmaking, and new media with unrelenting vigor, this medallion demonstrates how he could transform even the most traditional formats into modernist statements. Coveted by collectors, the Taureau gold medallion embodies both rarity and refinement, uniting Picasso’s personal symbolism with a material historically reserved for the highest expressions of art and devotion.

Picasso’s gold medallions are among the most fascinating and rare facets of his artistic production, created in the 1950s and early 1960s during his richly experimental years in Vallauris, the Provençal town where he also immersed himself in ceramics and printmaking. In these small yet powerful works, he translated his iconic imagery—bulls, goats, owls, fauns, centaurs, Jacqueline, and even occasional references to Dora Maar—into luminous reliefs of gold and silver, their jewel-like surfaces combining intimacy with grandeur. Produced in collaboration with master craftsmen, the editions were exceedingly limited, often no more than 20 per subject, making them far rarer than his ceramics or graphic works. Each medallion embodies Picasso’s remarkable ability to distill myth, animal vitality, and personal devotion into a concentrated form, transforming precious metal into a canvas for his inexhaustible imagination.

Created in 1956, this gold medallion is stamped with the artist's signature and numbered 'Picasso 14/20 1413' on verso; and stamped with the goldsmith's mark and a French mark on verso. Numbered from the edition of 20 on verso, this work was executed by François Victor-Hugo.

Provenance:

1. Private collection, New Orleans, acquired in Paris in the early 1980s.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Pablo Picasso Taureau (Bull), 1956 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. C. Siaud & P. Hugo, Bijoux d'artistes Hommage à François Hugo, Aix-en-Provence, 2001. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonnonné no.1413.

2. A Certificate of Authenticity issued by goldsmith Pierre Hugo will accompany this work.

3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Pablo Picasso Taureau (Bull), 1956 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complimentary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.