GEORGES JOUVE (1910-1964) - Lot 77

GEORGES JOUVE (1910-1964) Cylindre, the model designed around [1955]. Roller vase. Ceramic proof glazed in petroleum blue; inside glazed in black. Signed JOUVE and monogrammed A. P. (with interlaced letters) for Apollon, a mark known as the Alpha, below the base. Height: 18cm Bibliography and related works: - Michel Faré, texts by Renée Moutard-Uldry and Norbert Pierlot - Georges Jouve- Éditions Art et Industrie, Paris, 1965. Color and size variations reproduced on pages 71 and 88. - Preface by Pierre Bergé, texts by Philippe Jousse and Norbert Pierlot - Georges Jouve- Éditions Jousse Entreprise, Paris, 2005. Color and size variations reproduced on pages 62 to 65, 102, 103, 150, 151, 259, 287 and 289. An artist indissociable from the renaissance of French ceramics in the second half of the 20th century, Georges Jouve's avant-garde work is marked by formal purity, simple, precise, accurate and elegant lines. Trained at the École Boulle, the events of the Second World War led to his encounter with earthen materials. Taking refuge in the Drôme, Jouve discovered the pottery traditions of the villages of Nyons, famous for its santon production, and Dieulefit. During these troubled times, many artists were scattered across France, unable to practice their trained craft - and therefore unable to earn a living. They turned to pottery, whose workshops were deserted, to pursue their plastic research. During the war and in the immediate post-war period, a "return to the earth" took place, a response to the deconstruction of the world - the use of this raw, simple material allowing the human being to be reintroduced at the heart of their creations. Introduced to earthenware in Nyons, his first creations oscillated between local tradition and modern trends, evidence of his universe already in the making. He adopted alquifoux enameling and began to create religious subjects, mirrors and holy-water stoup pots - in keeping with Provençal tradition. At the end of the war, back in Paris where he set up his workshop, he worked on pieces marked by a decorative richness in keeping with the style of the time, before exploring new forms in the following decade: ceramics with simple, uncluttered, monochrome lines, as well as more architectural pieces for which he would be particularly celebrated. From his earliest research, Jouve asserted a personality and approach to ceramics that were unique to him, ahead of his time, and that would mark a whole generation of ceramists. His work moved from the figurative to the abstract, before reorienting itself towards a simplification of volumes, combined with the use of characteristic bright colors. Quickly recognized by his peers and decorators alike, his work was featured in the press and exhibited at major trade shows - including the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, the Salon des Arts Ménagers and the Milan Triennale. His untimely death put an end to a body of work now considered one of the most important in post-war French ceramic art.