Picasso Ceramics in Post War and Contemporary Art

The upcoming Post War and Contemporary Art auction at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will include a number of ceramics by Pablo Picasso including plates, pitchers and vases. Bid on these 35 lots and more on December 14.

Of Picasso’s more than 3,500 ceramic designs, animal themes are recurring with motifs of goats and bulls most common. These ceramics are suggestive of Picasso’s everyday surroundings and the animals he personally kept.

Our Post War and Contemporary Art sale features a number of these motifs on plates, including two profiles of goats’ heads, two bull profiles, a picador in action and a pair of lounging bulls.

Another common, recognizable theme across Picasso ceramics is the use of the human face and figure as motif. These designs are often colorful and playful, rendered in a disjointed nature that was also translated across mediums in well-known paintings and prints.

Picasso often used the ceramic vase to creatively display faces in duality (Lots 26 and 34 above) or in conversation (Lot 27 below) and the plate as head or body, to which he added features (Lots 16 and 44 below).

Overlapping with the time period in which he created ceramics, Picasso also met and married his second wife, Jacqueline Roque. She served as his muse in the creation of many works including the glazed ceramics below that bear her profile (Lots 39 and 40).

Further additions to the sale include a recognizable Wood Owl (Lot 50) and two partially glazed pitchers featuring “Little Beasts” (Lot 49) and a Picador (Lot 20).

Our December 14 Fine Prints sale also includes a number of works by Picasso. View highlights below and browse the full catalogue online.