Lot 282: ALICE COLONIEU (b. 1924)

ALICE COLONIEU (b. 1924)
A Glazed Ceramic Lidded Vessel, 1950s
3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm.) high, 7½ in. (19.1 cm.) wide, 5½ in. (14 cm.) deep
incisded Alice Colonieu (2)

Owing to the regions abundance of rich, malleable terracotta clays, the town of Vallauris, situated on the Côte d'Azure near Cannes, has been a traditional French pottery site since Roman times. While the pre-industrial 19th century kept the potteries active the onset of the 20th century saw a decline in demand for household ceramics, which was the town's primary commodity.

With the arrival of the railroad at the end of the nineteenth century, Vallauris began to flourish anew. However, the town's true renewal as a ceramics center was inextricably linked to Picasso's arrival in 1946. Visiting the town to see an exhibition of pottery, flowers and perfume, once there, Picasso met Suzanne and Georges Ramié. On that trip, in their Atelier Madoura, he experimented with clay making a few pieces. At the Ramié's invitation, Picasso returned a year later and worked at Madoura for almost two years with staggering output.

Picasso is often credited with liberating pottery from its craft status and reinvigorating the industry in France in general and Vallauris in particular. His work was exceedingly influential in the general shift in perception from pottery as traditional, utilitarian or decorative objects to pottery as objects of art. During the 1950s many talented artists, such as Jean Derval, Gilbert Valentin and Juliette Derel among others, were drawn to Vallauris creating the active and vibrant ceramics community which has become so well known for its exceptional and distinguished works.



Living in the South of France, Alice Colonieu was an active potter from the mid 1940s until 1969. She attended the Fontcarade school of ceramics in Montepellier from 1944-1945 and then settled in the nearby town of Orange. After participating in the Paris Salon des Artistes Décorateurs and a number of other Parisian salons, she regularly received commissions from fashionable interior designers such as Jean Royère, Jules Leleu and Maurice Rink. Her work was often characterized by thick earthy works made using coil or slab techniques. Her decoration was predominantly applied in relief and her superimposed enamels and glazes created a subtle transparent effect which added a lighter aspect to her work.

In 1961 she was awarded a gold medal at the Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Her last exhibition of pottery was in 1969. In the 1970s her focus shifted to painting and children's book illustrations.

cf. P. Staudenmeyer, French Pottery of the 50s, Paris, 2001, pp. 150-155.