Pablo Picasso, Visage noir (Black Face Pitcher), Madoura, 1953

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Pablo Picasso, Visage noir (Black Face Pitcher), Madoura, 1953

Ramié 191 Edition of 300 Vallauris, France
Earthenware pitcher painted in … Read more Pablo Picasso, Visage noir (Black Face Pitcher), Madoura, 1953

Ramié 191 Edition of 300 Vallauris, France
Earthenware pitcher painted in black on white glaze
Dimensions: 5.5 in. H × 6.5 in. W × 6 in. D
Marks: Edition Picasso / Madoura

This ceramic pitcher, conceived by Pablo Picasso in 1953 and executed at the Madoura atelier in Vallauris, is catalogued in Alain Ramié’s Picasso: Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947–1971 as Ramié 191. From the limited edition of 300, the pitcher exemplifies Picasso’s transformation of utilitarian forms into painterly and sculptural experiments.

The vessel presents a globular body with a narrow neck and strap handle. Its surfaces are animated by two contrasting faces rendered in bold black slip against a white ground: on one side a dark, mask-like visage with almond eyes and stylized horns or hair, on the other a simplified, linear face whose childlike directness provides a striking counterpoint. The handle, striped in rhythmic bands, recalls the decorative traditions of Mediterranean folk pottery.

The piece was produced in collaboration with the Madoura Pottery under Picasso’s direct supervision. The form was wheel-thrown and finished with hand-applied black slip painting beneath a transparent glaze. Although editioned, each example in this series exhibits subtle variations in application, preserving a sense of spontaneity within the multiple.

Picasso’s Visage noir belongs to the larger corpus of ceramics in which the artist reimagined ancient Mediterranean traditions through a modernist lens. The juxtaposition of a mask-like, almost totemic face with a more schematic visage may be read as an exploration of duality: the theatrical and the quotidian, the archaic and the modern, and the solemn and the playful. The influence of Iberian sculpture, African masks, and Picasso’s sustained engagement with the themes of metamorphosis and disguise are all present.

By inscribing human identity upon a vessel intended for everyday use, Picasso collapsed distinctions between art and function, aligning the act of pouring or holding with the act of contemplating form and image.

Literature
• Alain Ramié, Picasso: Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947–1971, Galerie Madoura, 1988, no. 191.

Picasso’s Madoura editions, produced between 1947 and 1971, are recognized as integral to his late oeuvre. The Visage Noir pitcher, with its bold graphic presence and anthropomorphic duality, ranks among the most recognizable and desirable of these editions. See less