Picasso bought a home in the small French Mediterranean coastal town of Vallauris in 1948. The town asked its famous new resident Pablo Picasso to design posters for its annual pottery exhibition, and he went on to produce linocut designs for posters from 1948-1964. Sometime after 1958 a booklet of 18 poster stamps was made.
The center gutter strip says roughly: “Thumbnail reductions of the Posters created by Picasso for the Vallauris Exhibitions from 1948 to 1958- Complete collection- Original colors” and one stamp which is a title (fourth row) says: “Edition by A.V.E.C. (Association Vallaurienne d’Exposition Ceramique), all rights reserved.” A printer’s name is at the base: “Arnera – Vallauris.”
Except for the top row, stamps have a year noted, so we can guess that the top row of three were made for 1948 and 1949. These three tell us the fair included ceramics, flowers, and perfumes. The second row is 1950 (one) and 1951 (2 color versions); the third row is three color versions for 1952; row four is one each of 1953 and 1954; row five is 3 designs for 1955; and row 6 is 1956, 1957, and 1958. Picasso moved away by 1955, but felt connected enough to do posters through 1964, and was married there in 1961.
Vallauris has a long ceramic tradition. Two of the rouletted stamps shown take their inspiration from the ceramic artisans of the town. 1954 shows a vase-
and 1957 shows a workshop with the kiln at left, a worker carrying a row of pots at center, and a potter at a wheel on the right.
At some point, circa 1960’s, postcards were printed of the posters by A.V.E.C. Two of the 160mm x 124mm postcards were also used as covers to hold the booklet, with the 1952 goat as a front cover and a 1955 face as the back.
An intact booklet appears to be scarce, as is a full set of the postcards.
Of course there is no record of Picasso’s feelings about the poster stamps, but he was an artist who loved to experiment and try new media.
–T. Minor and S. Greiczek