Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

‘Hopping’ – Roger Capron

 

 

Vallauris street sculpture – Roger Capron

 

Capron:  exemplary Mid-Century modernist designer

 

The Mid Century ceramic art of Roger Capron embodied the vibrant spirit and verve of Vallauris and the Cote d’ Azur. He took over an abandoned pottery studio at the age of 24 in Vallauris, France, where he worked with Robert Picault and then Jean Derval. Capron’s ceramic workshop, known as ‘l`Atelier Callis’, contributed to the renaissance of ceramics in Vallauris and at its peak employed over 120 ceramicists. He eventually expanded his production of vases, pitchers and other functional wares to include coffee tables with hand glazed tiles , lamp bases, wall plaques and other interior decor objects along with sculptural statues for public installations. Roger Capron’s pottery venture thrived and experienced considerable benefit from the post war reconstruction period and the explosion of consumerism that followed.

 

Athena statue – Roger Capron, Vallauris

 

In 1948, two years after Capron had arrived, Picasso at the age of 65, turned his prodigious creative talents towards making pottery at the Madoura ceramic atelier with Suzanne and Georges Ramié in Vallauris. His reputation and poster designs in the early fifties for the annual exhibitions of the Association des Potiers de Vallauris, helped bring attention to the emerging pottery mecca of Vallauris and drew more visitors and artists to the region while also lifting the profile of the modernist ceramic arts.

Capron’s colourful, vivid and spontanoeus ceramic art clearly displayed a Picasso influence, while maintaining a distinctive Capron visage. He was dedicated to the ethos of the ceramic master René Gabriel, which was to “make beauty accessible to everyone.” Capron was one of the first to apply his knowledge of ceramics in the context of semi-industrial production and his ceramic oeuvre included much artistic research and innovation.
Before moving to Vallauris in 1946, he had studied Applied Arts in Paris from 1939 to 1943 and worked as an art teacher in 1945.
His contribution to the promotion of the appeal and beauty of abstract forms and illustration, expressed through the ceramic medium, is undeniable and it’s extremely pleasing to see his ceramic works getting wide recognition now and becoming eminently collectible.

 

 

 

Whisky decanter – Roger Capron

 

 

 

 Tiled dance floor mural at Byblos in Saint Tropez, 1968 by Roger Capron and Jean Derval.

 

 

Tall white pitcher – Roger Capron

 

 

Roger Capron pitcher

 

 

 

Red baluster vase – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Free form bowl – Roger Capron

Gallerie Riviera, Paris

 

 

Baroness’ – Roger Capron

rogercapron.com

 

 

White quad footed ceramic ovoid dish – Roger Capron

 

 

‘Vase Fleur Bleue’ – Roger Capron

le maga.be

 

 

Ceramic lamp shade – Roger Capron

Sam Kaufman

 

 

Folded rim ceramic pot – Roger Capron

 

 

‘Claudia’  ceramic bust – Roger Capron

 

 

‘Rouge Bottle Set’ – Roger Capron

 

 

 

White ceramic jug with orange interior glaze – Roger Capron

 

 

‘Female bird totem’ – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Personnage animal fantastique – Roger Capron

 

 

Large cornet vase – Roger Capron

 

 

 

 ‘Femme au Fauteuil’  folding screen – Roger Capron

1960

 

 

 

‘Grand Profil Raye’ – Roger Capron

 

 

‘Harlequin’ – Roger Capron

rogercapron.com

 

 

‘Flat Warriors’ plate – Roger Capron

 

 

 

‘Horned Wildlife’ – Roger Capron

rogercapron.com

 

Coffee table ‘Navette’  – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Bottle vase – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Large ceramic bird plate – Roger Capron

 

 

 

‘Loiseau in his nest’ – Roger Capron

 

 

Roger Capron sculptures, Biot, France

 

 

Vallauris street sculpture – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Roger Capron plate

 

 

 

Female zoomorphic raku sculpture Roger Capron

 

 

 

Roger Capron

 

 

 

 

Ceramic horse sculpture – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Roger Capron – reclining female sculpture

 

 

Roger Capron ceramic panel

 

 

Bowl and vase – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Zoomorphic Rooster – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Mosaic mural – Roger Capron

 

 

Raku female sculpture – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Femme Gravee Philippe – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Kneeling juggler sculpture by Roger Capron

 

 

 

Abstract ceramic bust Roger Capron

 

 

 

Vallauris studio – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Roger Capron

 

 

 

‘Femme au lit’ – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Women wearing gown – Roger Capron

 

 

 

‘Yellow Bird Vase’ – Roger Capron

1958-

Galerie Sandy- Toupenet, Paris

 

 

 

Zoomorphic fish sculpture – Roger Capron

 

 

 

Tripod red vase – Roger Capron

 

 

‘Double Dove’ sculpture bust – Roger Capron

 

Other Vallauris ceramic masters

 

Ceramic sculpture – Pablo Picasso

 

 

 

Painted wood ‘Centaur’ sculpture – Picasso

 

 

 

Ceramic pitcher – Pablo Picasso

Hermatige, Saint Petersburg

 

 

Pol Chombost figural vase

 

 

‘Sylvette’ sculpture bust – Picasso

 

 

 

Vallauris poster by Picasso, 1956

 

 

Vallauris poster by Picasso, 1957

 

 

 

Ceramic mask – Pablo Picasso

 

 

 

Ceramic bottle with square modernist panel – Jean Derval

 

 

 

‘God of Ceramics’ – Francois Raty

( I always wondered what he looked like)

 

 

 

 

Abstract sculptural ceramic bottle – Jean Derval

 

 

 

‘Les Femmes d’Alger’  – Picasso

Christies

 

 

Picasso’s War & Peace mural in the chapel at Vallauris

 

 

 

‘Pintade’  coupe – Jean Derval

Vallauris, 1961

 

 

 

Gilbert Portanier

artentique.nl

 

 

 

Gilbert Valentin pitcher

 

 

Pitcher – Picasso

 

 

 

Vallauris fish jug

Carvajal Auctions

 

 

 

Jean River

 

 

 

Twin figure modernist sculptural lamp base by Gilbert Valentin, France

 

 

 

 

 

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