Signed in the plate. Bloch 1277; Baer 1044 only state, A (of B); Czwiklitzer 24; Art of the poster 16
'Epreuve d'essai' of the definitve form printed in brown on 'offset fort' paper, outside the signed and numbered edition of 175, printed by Imprimerie Arnéra and published by Association des potiers de Vallauris.
A very fine impression with fresh colour and full margins, dark marks on the extreme edge of the right margin, and handling creases in the bottom margin; otherwise in very good condition.
Picasso produced an ‘Exposition Vallauris’ poster for the exhibition of ceramics in the town of Vallauris each year from 1951-1964.
Picasso’s Linocut Posters : An Introduction
From 1951 to 1964 Picasso designed and produced linocut posters, which were created for the southern French town of Vallauris where Picasso settled from 1948 to 1956. Famous for its ceramics, arts and crafts exhibitions and bullfighting, Vallauris proved to be a fruitful ground for the development of Picasso’s style and technique for linocut. Having previously designed book illustrations, ballet costumes and sets, tapestries and carpets, Picasso turned to designing posters from the age of 67 for various purposes. These included the promotion of world disarmament and peace, and in a more local sphere events and exhibitions in Vallauris. Vallauris was also home to Imprimerie Arnera, a printing studio that was managed at the time by the printer Hidalgo Arnera, with whom Picasso increasingly worked and sometimes collaborated.
The earliest linocut poster designed by Picasso, Vallauris Exposition 1951, shows a child’s face rendered in a simplistic way and in one colour. The letters were designed in thick lines so that the information would be legible from a distance. By 1952, Picasso created a more complex design for the poster Exposition 1952 Vallauris. Instead of portraying a child’s head, Picasso designed a large goat head seen in profile, which is reminiscent of the 1950 bronze goat sculpture in Vallauris. The forms of the goat’s head and blades of grass influenced Picasso’s use of typography. This experimental approach resulted in long blades of grass spelling out ‘Vallauris’ below the goat’s chin, while the word ‘Exposition’ extended from left to right above the goat. Another way of developing his style was through the use of different coloured paper and ink to achieve different effects. Exposition 1952 Vallauris was printed on three different colours of paper, which include pink, white and yellow. He also used both black and green ink for this poster.
The experimental approach to poster-making is especially evident in Vallauris 1953 Exposition, where silhouettes of three people are imposed on brightly multi-coloured paper. Picasso’s attention to detail is once again meticulous: one can even see the eyelashes and delicate hair strands on the figure on the left.
By 1954, Picasso adopted linocut as his main method of creating posters, and began to cut the linocut blocks himself, rather than making a drawing which was then transferred onto zinc, which has the same properties as lino, by photogravure. The dramatic lines and almost painterly finish of the vase in Vallauris Exposition 1954 show his mastery of the technique. In 1955 Picasso carved and printed three different subjects for the Vallauris exhibition. The first poster shows a faun-like head which was carved out in simple and curved lines. In the second poster, Picasso added more detail to the head such as eyebrows and a beard, which resulted in a more expressive piece. The third poster is of a smiley face or a sun hiding behind the letters ‘Exposition Vallauris’ that recall the typography of Exposition 1952 Vallauris. The three variants to the Vallauris exhibition posters of 1955 and the complexity of posters post-1955, such as Vallauris 1956 Exposition, demonstrated Picasso’s dedication to the development of the art of the poster.
In addition to creating posters for the arts and crafts exhibitions for Vallauris, Picasso also made posters for specialist events. One of these events is Ceret, 1958, an exhibition of white clay and ceramics. The bright colour scheme and pattern of men and women holding hands in the centre of the image allude to the joyous nature of the event.
The posters advertising bullfighting in Vallauris were rendered in abstract and symbolic way. In an early poster such as Toros en Vallauris, 1955, the crowd as well as the bold typography are included in the image which clearly advertises the event. In 1958, Picasso’s poster design reached technical virtuosity in Toros Vallauris as the torero is depicted as a network of dashes which formed an intricate pattern. Therefore, Toros Vallauris 1960 saw Picasso adopt yet another innovative approach to poster-making. The animals became free-floating figures containing syllables of the words ‘Toros Vallauris’ printed in yellow on a vibrant red background. Consequently, the poster has a musical and energetic quality to it.
Picasso’s posters have a dual role of being a functional and aesthetic object. On one level the posters had to fulfil their functional purpose whereby they would advertise an event or an exhibition; the typography had to be legible from a distance and the colours bright to attract attention. The relationship between function and art became more fluid as at times Picasso abandoned the style of clear-cut typography and the figures in the posters merged into letters and vice versa. Picasso’s linocut posters are aesthetic objects that show his affection for his adopted town of Vallauris.
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