Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Executed in 1954, Grand vase carré hibou is a beautiful, unique work which brilliantly demonstrates one of Picasso's favorite aspects of the medium: his ability to paint a two-dimensional figure onto a three-dimensional object, thus allowing the subject to come to life in a form closest to its natural shape. "Madoura also produced a variety of ordinary jugs, bottles and vases, with which Picasso explored the boundaries between two and three dimensions by painting their surfaces. Often he made references to plants, animals or human characteristics that were suggested by the forms themselves, so that jugs or bottles could be turned into animals or human heads, while pots and vases could become still-lifes or even landscapes" (M. McCully, Ceramics by Picasso, Paris, 1999, vol. I, p. 24). In this work, the figure of the owl envelops the entirety of the vase, presented on each of the four sides of the ceramic.

The owl, a symbol of wisdom and prosperity, was an important recurring theme in Picasso's oeuvre. "Picasso apparently possessed those special powers of communication that only some people have with animals, and from the beginning of his career he liked to keep dogs, cats, birds and, on occasion, monkeys. [Françoise] Gilot has recounted that while Picasso was working at the Musée d'Antibes, a little owl with an injured claw was found in a corner of the museum. Picasso soon tamed the obstinate creature and they took it with them when they later left for Paris, where the bird assumed its role in the life of the artist's studio--and, of course, in his work" (ibid., p. 464).