Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Picasso and the Ramiés' relationship began in 1946 at Vallauris and continued for 25 years. This working relationship was one of continuous creative experimentation and exploration, and ideas passed from the Ramiés to Picasso and vice versa. Often the Ramiés would create a simple, beautifully formed shape, which Picasso would then manipulate, turning it into a series of imaginative and highly original forms, which depicted faces, goats or birds, or were illustrated with the drama of scenes such as the corrida. A number of the large-scale vase shapes produced by the Ramiés had their origins in classic Greek or Roman vases. In 1950, Suzanne Ramié began developing a vase with the same basic shape as Tripode, which decorated with an iridescent white glaze left a striking sculptural statement on the artist. The three-legged tripod shape, however, was not a new concept and harks back to the vases of the Bronze Age and Neolithic era. Manipulating the form, to create an arresting and unusual shape, Picasso decorated the bulbous body of the vase with the face of his beloved Françoise Gilot, delineated by a few simple blue and green lines, which are echoed in the decoration of the three legsPicasso and the Ramiés' relationship began in 1946 at Vallauris and continued for 25 years. This working relationship was one of continuous creative experimentation and exploration, and ideas passed from the Ramiés to Picasso and vice versa. Often the Ramiés would create a simple, beautifully formed shape, which Picasso would then manipulate, turning it into a series of imaginative and highly original forms, which depicted faces, goats or birds, or were illustrated with the drama of scenes such as the corrida. A number of the large-scale vase shapes produced by the Ramiés had their origins in classic Greek or Roman vases. In 1950, Suzanne Ramié began developing a vase with the same basic shape as Tripode, which decorated with an iridescent white glaze left a striking sculptural statement on the artist. The three-legged tripod shape, however, was not a new concept and harks back to the vases of the Bronze Age and Neolithic era. Manipulating the form, to create an arresting and unusual shape, Picasso decorated the bulbous body of the vase with the face of his beloved Françoise Gilot, delineated by a few simple blue and green lines, which are echoed in the decoration of the three legs.