Still Life with Spoon, by Pablo Picasso

Partially glazed white earthenware dish painted in grey and white.
France.
13 x 13 in.

The Still Life with Spoon is one of the few original ceramic pieces that, according to Pierre Cabanne, were designed by Pablo Picasso on December 22, 1952, at Madoura, the workshop Picasso moved in after an impromptu visit with his then lover Françoise Gilot in the South of France in 1946.

It seems that Picasso, after four years spent in war-time Paris — years marked by dark and tragic works such as Still Life with Ox Skull in 1942 or Skull in 1943 — found a refuge of sorts, far from Paris, often away from painting, and concerned with more peaceful subjects. The famous words Picasso said to Malraux thus take on their full meaning. Malraux said to Picasso :

“You spoke about the theme of death, regarding Goya’s Tres de Mayo. You’ve depicted pregnant women since… how long ? Is The Embrace from 1905 ?

— 1903.

— Birth and creation are perhaps as profound, as unsettling as death — and for the same reasons.

— I’ll walk down with you : I’m going to Saint-Germain-des-Prés.”

In the very dark staircase, his voice behind me turned pleasant again :

“I forgot to show you my plates. I’ve made plates, did they tell you ? They’re very nice. (His voice turns serious.) You can eat off them.”

Ceramics, thus, may well form the most representative part of Picasso’s work in the immediate post-war period. They are certainly one of its most significant facets.

This version of Still Life with Spoon is stamped : “Madoura plein feu” and “Empreinte originale de Picasso.” This is because one of the first catalogues of Picasso’s ceramic work, compiled by Georges Ramié, who personally oversaw Picasso’s production at Madoura, distinguishes at least three categories of original ceramics : unique works, individually modeled and perfected by Picasso; “original imprints,” obtained by stamping from a plaster matrix designed by Picasso, with editions personally approved by him; and “authentic replicas,” produced by Madoura’s potters based on Picasso’s models, but without the artist’s direct involvement.

This version of Still Life with Spoon belongs to the second category of Picasso’s original ceramic works and bears the number 151, from a limited edition of 200 copies.

Sources

Georges Ramié, Céramiques de Picasso, Paris, 1974 ; André Malraux, La Tête d’obsidienne, Paris, 1974 ; Pierre Cabanne, Le Siècle de Picasso, Paris, 1979 ; Alain Ramié, Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works. 1947-1971, Vallauris, 1988 ; Paul Bourassa, ‘Rencontres avec la céramique’, in Picasso et la céramique, Paris, 2004.