Vallauris is a pottery town that proudly boasts of its association with Pablo Picasso, who lived and worked there from 1948 through 1955. Large billboards with black and white photos of Picasso working in his workshops and wandering around town are displayed on the walls of buildings. One of the main squares in town prominently features his 1949 bronze sculpture called "L'Homme au Mouton" (Man with Sheep). It is interesting that I recognized this sculpture from afar, since another version of it was on display at the Picasso exhibit in the Art Gallery of Ontario a few years back. There is even a Pablo Picasso college in town.
His works in ceramics are featured in the
Musée National Picasso, which cohabitates with the
Magnelli Museum and the
Museum of Ceramics in the Castle of Vallauris, a former 16th Century Renaissance priory of the Abbey of Lérins.
While the collection of Picasso's ceramics was sparse, his presence was certainly felt in the breathtaking highlight of the museum–his enormous murals of War and Peace, painted in 1952, that cover the entire curved walls of the chapel in the Vallauris Castle. Each mural was painted on a number of panels which were then fastened onto the designated wall of the chapel.
The side depicting War is mostly painted in dark, ominous colours with a hearse pulled by war horses being driven by a horned demon holding a bloody sword and carrying a bag of human skulls on his back, In the background, shadows of other menacing creatures wreak more destruction with their various weapons. The horses are trampling on burning books, symbolizing the desire of dictators to stamp out culture, which they consider "dangerous and subversive". The figure to the far left stands in a constrasting blue background, holding a lance with the scales of justice and a shield depicting the dove of peace.
This figure is the tie-in to the mural on the opposing wall which depicts Peace in all its various forms, with men, women and children participating in peaceful, joyful activities including reading, dancing, playing, and a mother nursing her baby (the symbol of fertility, both literally as well as the rebirth of culture in times of peace). There are references to Greek mythology including the winged Pegasus and the pipe-playing Pan-like figure.
In the centre mural, people of all skin colours join hands in a sign of unity, holding up another shield with the dove of peace on it. We sat there for quite a long time, awestruck at this magnificent creation and its unique, spiritual setting, which Picasso considered his "Temple of Peace".
A temporary exhibit called Asneria (The Donkey) by Spanish artist Pilar Albarracin is currently installed at the entrance of the chapel. It plays on Picasso's image of the horses stomping on the books. Her sculpture has a donkey sitting upright in a humanoid pose atop a huge pile of books, holding an open book in its "hands". This traditional symbol of "animal stupidity" is incongruously depicted as a scholarly creature. She seems to question the "formation and transmission of knowledge" in today's culture of information overload.
The Ceramics museum displayed various works of art including many modern pieces. Unfortunately photos were not allowed in any of the three museums and there are limited examples on the internet. The best I could do was find similar images from the same artists that were representative of what we saw. I could not find most of my favourite pieces including Jerome Massier's vase in the shape of a tulip, Sophie Drai's works that ressembled extremely thin strips of shredded paper, and an Italian ceramist whose name I didn't write down properly who created a sculpture of a waste paper basket containing scrunched up beer cans including one with the face of John Paul II on it–there seems to be a definite message in this last piece.
The Alberto Magnelli museum depicted paintings from this Italian artist including a series of works painted between 1910-1917. It was very interesting to see the progressive change in style from realism to abstract painting over this short period of time.
We saw many sculptures both leading up to the Picasso/Ceramics museums and featured prominently in a square at the centre of the town, which we attributed to Pablo Picasso. But when we looked at the plaques, it turned out these very Picasso-esque sculptures were the works of Roger Capron, a well-known ceramist from Vallauris who ran a ceramics factory up until the 1980s.
Associated with the Ceramics museum is the tiny little
Museum of Kitsch Ceramics, which features Gil Camatte's collection of kitschy ceramic works including fish, poodles, Bambi deers, cicada bugs and more. These pieces from the 60s to 80s took him over 40 years to lovingly acquire. Our favourite was the ashtray(?) featuring a topless blond floating in a pool of blue water. Waiting for this museum to reopen after the traditional lunch break reminded us that in some parts of France, opening times seem to be a mere suggestion. We waited 15 minutes past the designated 2pm restart time to no avail, then went away to look at other things and when we returned an hour later, the museum was finally open.
We visited a working pottery workshop and store where we were able to go behind the scenes to see the kilns and works in progress being created. I liked the colourful ceramic egg holders although I'm not sure how functional they would be.
Of course, a town like Vallauris would have a plethora of ceramics stores that sell everything from bowls, plates, cups, vases and olive oil dispensers, to art galleries with sculptures of all shapes and sizes. One gallery in particular called Aqui Siam Ben featured works of artists from around the world.
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