Zoomorphia

Working with ceramics opened Picasso to a new realm of possibility. He began to explore the area of convergence between functionality and artistic whimsy.

Picasso’s ‘structural pots’ are a manifestation of his visual perspective. He reconfigures the traditional pottery elements into a zoomorphic shape. For example, the handle of a pitcher transfigures into the tall, looped tail of a bird. The closer Picasso arrives at the pictorial illusion, however, the farther away he gets from the vessel’s original function. The long and unwieldy handle becomes too difficult to use. The narrow beak of the bird will constrict the flow of water coming from the pitcher.

Picasso’s portraits of animals on plates and platters further serve as evidence for his fascination with the interplay of function and design. While working with ‘engobe’, Picasso was able to manipulate the texture of his pieces more easily. By brushing the plate or vessel, he could give the impression of feathers or scales. The profile of the fish appears more life-like, but the plate itself is rendered useless. As the etchings on the plate grow deeper, the original use of the object is further negated.

The ceramics which Picasso created at the Madoura workshop, and specifically his zoomorphic designs, called attention to this ancient and traditional medium. His fame and artistic innovation generated awareness for this unique yet moribund form of art.

This moment in his life was a metamorphosis of the world after the war and he wanted to express that in his new reconfiguration of ancient pottery norms. He combatted the metaphysics of pottery. Picasso not only called attention to this raw form of art-making by rearranging its integral elements but also by introducing a mid-century modernist perspective. 

A Modernist Perspective

Made by Picasso in 1963, Face, is a beautiful piece of Modernist ceramic art. Painted with black and white slip, it represents the height of Picasso’s Modernist interest. Picasso chooses to paint around the opening of the vessel, as opposed to painting on its belly. Typically, a pitcher or vase is painted from the perspective of the viewer looking side-on. In this case, however, Picasso has chosen to illustrate the top of the jug, thereby alienating the viewer. To accurately engage with the painted vessel, the viewer is forced to lay the jug on its side.

The opening of the pitcher, outlined in a black slip, acts as the ‘mouth’ of Face. This integral aspect of the piece draws attention to the function of the ‘canvas’. As opposed to pretending that the pitcher is a flat canvas, Picasso highlights its utilitarian nature. Notably, the added black splash along the outside of the handle echoes Picasso’s quintessential abstracted nose. Picasso splashes black slip across the vessel to portray the face’s eyes. By allowing the slip to drip down the pitcher; Picasso is choosing to display the medium itself. This choice amplifies Picasso’s Modernist motivation. By accentuating the medium, as opposed to a narrative, Picasso can better capture the sublime simplicity held within the art form.

Fish for Dinner

Picasso’s Spanish heritage greatly influenced his ceramic work. Surrounded by French antiquity at the Cote d’Azur, Picasso called upon his own Spanish history for inspiration. His series of platos de engaños (plates to fool the eye), was an homage to both his Spanish heritage and French art history. In the sixteenth century, potter Bernard Palissy created these illusory ceramic pieces for the French king at the time. These plates are an example of a culinary form of trompe l’oeil. Images of cutlery or scraps of food are sculpted in high relief and added to the plate. The effect is a literal and figurative representation of the plate’s original function while rendering it completely useless. By highlighting the plate’s function, Picasso ultimately removes it entirely.  

Picasso often incises fish with etching marks that look like abstracted scales. In fact, the scratched lines offer a textural memory of scales rather than a literal image of scales. In combination with the smooth, fired glaze, the overall texture is that of a scaly, slippery fish. The closer the subjects of these platos engaños arrive at a realistic representation of themselves, the more the function of the plate itself is reduced. For instance, it becomes quite difficult to enjoy a meal when there is a sculpture of a fish in the middle of the plate.

In the style of empreintes originales, Picasso used an authentic typesetter for Fish on a Sheet of Newspaper. His friend, Arnera, let him borrow the metal matrix from the local paper, Le Patriote. Consequently, both the fish and the newspaper are represented in a life-like capacity, yet both are completely void of their purpose. The fish is not edible, and the newspaper certainly cannot be read. The newspaper, moreover, truly punctuates Picasso’s humorous take on Los Platos Engaños.