ROBERT PICAULT (1919-2000) - Lot 108

ROBERT PICAULT (1919-2000) Female profile, circa 1952 Slightly hollow circular dish. Polychrome enameled ceramic proof. Signed PICAULT on the reverse. Diameter: 31cm Provenance: Galerie Arts 220, Illinois, USA. Bibliography: Sylvie Vautier - PICASSO / PICAULT, PICAULT / PICASSO - Un moment magique à Vallauris 1948-1953 - Pointed Leaf Editions, New York, 2016. Works belonging to the same series as our dish reproduced on pages 124 and 125. A key figure in the renewal of ceramics in the 1950s, Robert Picault trained in Paris at the École des arts appliqués, alongside Jean Derval (1925-2010) and Roger Capron (1922-2006). In 1946, he and Capron opened the Callis workshop in Vallauris - where he had moved the previous year. This initial production, made up of reinvented and reinterpreted pieces from the popular pottery tradition, was later continued in Picault's personal studio, opened in 1948. It was here that he fired ceramics decorated either with alquifoux or matt black glazes - a technique that he and Georges Jouve (1910-1964) would revive. Picault also immersed himself in the creation of more decorative works: large vases, dishes with relief decorations, featuring animal motifs such as fish or birds - the favorite subjects of all his work. A large part of his production was then dedicated to tableware, which he densely decorated with a profusion of geometric motifs in shades of green and brown. These decorations - bands, undulations, circles, crosses, grids, lines - are sometimes embellished with figurative subjects. Like Capron, he set about reinventing large-scale, quasi-industrial, high-end ceramic production, which was highly appreciated and renowned. At the same time, in the 1960s, he experimented with more intimate, personal works, ranging from erotic subjects to portraits of his loved ones. His interest in bright colors and his simple yet incisive graphic style remained constant throughout his career.