Picasso’s wish. The ceramics that inspired the artist
By Charlotte Stace
Disseny Hub Barcelona welcomes a new exhibition based on a collection of Picasso’s ceramic works.
In a report from August 1st, 1957, La Vanguardia quoted Picasso as exclaiming: ‘How is it possible that this could have been done before I came onto the scene?’, when he saw the selection of 18th and 19th century ceramics in the La ceràmique espagnole, du XIIIème siècle à nos jours exhibition at the Palais Miramar in Cannes.
This admiration encouraged the artist to donate 16 ceramic works to the Barcelona Museums of Art, which are now part of the Disseny Hub’s collection. However, Picasso made one condition for the donation: that “they are displayed alongside a major collection owned by said museums”. To mark Celebración Picasso 1973-2023, the museum is honouring this wish by displaying all of the 16 ceramic works, in dialogue with the museum’s historical ceramic collection.