Pablo Picasso fell in love with ceramics while living in Vallauris, France, between 1948 and 1955, creating art aimed at accessibility for all. His gold plate titled 'Vallauris,' created in 1956, is valued at €3,000,000, while numerous ceramic plates from the same period are worth around €1,200 each. The Vallauris region is significant for its pottery history and houses a national Picasso museum showcasing his works and passion for bullfight themes.

1. Gold Plates
Picasso
A collection of gold plates by Pablo Picasso
in Private Collection

2. Pablo Picasso
25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973
In 1946, Pablo fell in love with
making ceramics in Vallauris in
the South of France. He lived in
Villa Galloise from 1948 to 1955.
Picasso was of the opinion that
everyone should be able to
purchase an original piece of art
with the change they carried in
their pockets.
He so famously stated, “I have
made dishes you can eat from!”
Times have changed. Today a
Picasso plate can fetch thousands
at auctions.
And the gold plates? Well, they
can be had for millions!

3. “Vallauris”
gold plate
This gold plate fashioned in the
year 1956 by Picasso is valued at
EUR 3,000,000. It is currently a
part of a Private Collection.

4. Ceramic plate
“Vallauris”
Picasso also made several
ceramic plates called “Vallauris”.
There are 400 of these plates in
existence today, and the value of
each plate shown on the right is
EUR 1,200.
Vallauris is renowned for
ceramics, the town having been a
place of pottery all the way back
to the 16th century. At the
beginning of the 20th century the
Massier family began devoting
themselves to making ceramic
art, and when Picasso befriended
them during his stay in Vallauris
in the 1950s they had a great

5. Picasso Museum
in Vallauris
When you make your way into
the heart of Vallauris, a
castle/museum waits you. This
gorgeous structure is an example
of Renaissance architecture. And
it also houses the National
Picasso Museum “War and
Peace” in the Romanesque
chapel, which is a work of
monumental proportions that
Picasso created in 1952. It also
houses a Ceramics Museum,
where a wide range of ceramics
are on display.

6. Why Vallauris?
Why did Pablo Picasso name his
gold plate “Vallauris”? Who are
the three people depicted on the
plate? Does the man in the center
represent Picasso himself? Is
Picasso being doted on by two
women? If you look carefully,
you will see that the three faces
are actually inside of a bull’s
head! Picasso chose the exact
same motif for an exposition
poster that he made in the 1950s.
It is also on a ceramic plate.

7. Description of
“Vallauris”
For more information, see
http://www.yaneff.com/html/plat
es/mp_80.html
Three faces set whimsically
inside the head of a bull, with the
elements of the profile designs
reflected on each side, set against
alluring colours, creating a
classic Picasso design.

8. "The most important of the
compositions which Picasso
made in the 1950's were inspired
by his passion for the bullfight
and his involvement with making
ceramics at Vallauris. The
emotional drama, the colour, the
panache and the clash of strength
and power which are the essence
of the Bullfight and so much a
central element in the Spanish
character were a vital element in
Picasso's inspiration. In the years
from the 1950's onwards, as he
found himself increasingly
tortured by finding the means of
expression or the issues in his art,
so the Bullfight also became one
of the principal ways that he
found release and entertainment"
(Weston)
**William Weston Gallery, Catalogues. Text
by William Weston. London.