Face Vase

Pablo Picasso, 1953

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About This Work

In this characteristic ceramic work, Picasso transforms a simple vase into a face by painting eyes, nose, and mouth directly onto its surface, with the handles becoming ears. The result is a playful fusion of vessel and portrait that collapses the distinction between functional object and work of art. The painted features are rendered with the same confident economy of line that characterizes his drawings.

Picasso's face vases represent one of his most inventive contributions to the ceramics tradition. By treating the vessel's form as a face, he created a new genre of functional sculpture that has influenced ceramic artists worldwide. The Madoura workshop produced these works in limited editions that are now highly collectible.

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