Welcome to ART ACTUALLY, an art column by Beth Krumholz.
If you have never seen an actual Picasso, here is your chance to soak it in and ponder the interplay between his ceramics and Mouly’s painting.
What: Picasso: Master in Clay, Mouly: On The Move
Center for the Arts & Freedman Gallery, Albright College
Details: This exhibition was curated by Leigh Hendry, organized to travel by Carole Sorell, and underwritten by Park West Foundation. It pairs the editioned ceramics of Pablo Picasso, 1947-1969, created in the Madoura Ceramic Studio, with the travel prints and paintings of Marcel Mouly, 1945-2007. Exhibition catalogue for sale, inquire at gallery.
When & Where: Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2020
Virtual Tour, Sun., Sept. 27, 2-3pm, Freedman Gallery, via Facebook Live
https://www.facebook.com/events/2539916202985415
Contact: Freedman Gallery for hours during COVID19
Main Office: 610.921.7715
Gallery: 610.921.7541
Pablo Picasso hardly needs an introduction, though this collection of his jaunty ceramics might. It was the summer of 1946 when he began making art in the Madoura Ceramic Studio. He loved the malleable nature of the clay and created many forms that were then cast in editions, as well as unique pieces. He was free to paint his well-known imagery on them with abandon. The forms created were plates, pitchers and vases, and they highlighted his gestural drawings of portraits, flowers, nature and bullfighting. They come across as brilliantly effortless. The pottery studio was by the sea and the salty-aired atmosphere also found its way onto the surface of the cheerful pots. The scale is small, but the impact is grand; while they come off almost like doodles on napkins, they each stand with aplomb.
Marcel Mouly was a French artist. Though lesser known, his works hold their own and provide a bold, vibrant and yet serene backdrop to Picasso’s ceramics. He is classified as a modernist and a fauvist painter and you can certainly see the influence that cubism had on him. His prints and paintings brilliantly display an unapologetic embrace of pure representation with a splash of abstraction thrown in. His hand is steady and the pace and intimate personality of his landscapes and interiors are patterned with colors that are almost florescent in tone. There is a high-keyed vibrancy afoot.
We have two cultural treasures here, having a remarkable conversation. Picasso’s work brightly shouts out as Mouly’s exciting warmth draws us in. What I can’t help reflecting on when seeing the pairing is the well-known rivalry between Picasso and Henri Matisse. They seemed to spur each other on. But legend had it that it was really Picasso who fueled the ongoing one-upmanship. Knowing that Mouly was a peer of both Matisse and Picasso, it makes me wonder if Picasso would have also seen this pairing as a competition.
Beth Krumholz is a Berks County native, currently residing in Bethlehem. She is an educator, artist, and poet. She has worked in the field of alternative art education for more than 20 years, from NYC to San Francisco. In her spare time, she enjoys Indian cooking, Appalachian waterfalls, table-top herb gardening, and hanging out with her wonderful son and their mischievous cats. Photo: Jenny Schulder-Brant
