Henri Grailhe (1905-1966) Rare Imitation Marble Ceramic Vase, Vallauris, Raty, Picasso,

New ceramic piece by Henri Grailhe, an imitation marble covered vase decorated with deeply incised wave-shaped chevrons. Handwritten signature hollow below the vase. Height 20cm, width 15cm and circumference 48cm, extremely massive piece, at least 2kgs. Condition: very good, despite several veins throughout the vase, including one quite deep, which are ultimately deliberate cooking cracks in order to imitate marble, all of its cracks are indeed intended by the artist. Grailhe is also very well known for this type of work which differentiates him from most of the potters in Vallauris. In fact he liked to imitate natural materials through cooking effects, stone, marble, wood, plaster, concrete etc... I show for example a black ceramic mask which imitates stone (see last photo , not for sale) or I offer another vase that will imitate plaster (for sale, see other ad). So it would be a mistake to hide these faults which are not faults. Henri Grailhe (1905-1966) Ceramist, French sculptor from the 1950s. The artist is known in Vallauris for his sculptures in chamotte clay with moire patina, in red clay, and in cracked ceramic or with numerous patinas, an innovator in the world of ceramics. In 1947, the arrival of Pablo Picasso in the Madoura workshop made Vallauris an innovative artistic center with an international reputation. In the city of potters, alongside ceramists Suzanne Ramié, André Baud, Roger Capron, Robert Picault, Jean Derval, (...), Henri Grailhe is participating in the revival of local ceramics. Solitary, without family, he lived in Vallauris and worked for Gilbert Portanier. He is a great friend of André Baud and his family, who received him at Christmas lunches in 1959 and 1968, in their villa "San Michèle". Henri Grailhe was also a friend of François Raty. In his work 'Modern ceramics', Michel Faré evokes, among other things, the purity of the style of Grailhe, Raty, (...) which "ensure the center of Vallauris a just primacy in the order of contemporary ceramics."