Never-before-seen Picasso ceramics break record at auction in Geneva
Seven unique ceramic plates and dishes painted by celebrated Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, created between 1947 and 1964, have been sold in Geneva, Switzerland, for a total of 272,000 Swiss francs - almost €290,000.
Yep, Picasso was also a tableware artist.
The never-before-seen hand-painted ceramics, featuring birds, fish and goats, were designed in the Madoura Pottery Workshop in Vallauris (Alpes-Maritimes). They had been kept privately for almost 40 years.
Piguet of Geneva (Switzerland), which handled the sale, noted in a press release that the estimated price for the lots was 145,000 Swiss francs (€154,000) - making the auction a surprising success.
The sum fetched at auction 'reflects the public's enthusiasm for the master's works in all their forms,' stated Piguet.
'Picasso was already an internationally-renowned artist,' Adeline Bisch Balerna, head of paintings and sculptures at Piguet, told AFP prior to the sale. 'He had already opened up a huge number of avenues for all artists; the great, well-known works had been created, and he was seeking new means of expression for his art.'
In the ceramic medium, the record for a Picasso stands at £980,275 (€1.149m) for the prototype for the artist's 1950 vase Grand vase aux femmes voilées at Christie's London in 2013.
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