Aquatint
13 works
Pablo Picasso Danseurs For Sale
Pablo Picasso
Danseurs, 1956
White earthenware clay, engraving accentuated withe glaze, black patinated ground
8 in20.3 cm
About this work
This 1956 ceramic, Danseurs, by Pablo Picasso, is a fine example of how he transformed simple earthenware into dynamic works of modern art. Executed in white earthenware clay with engraved decoration accentuated by glaze on a black patinated ground, the piece demonstrates Picasso’s extraordinary ability to capture movement and rhythm in a timeless, abstracted form. Picasso’s innovations in ceramics were rooted in his willingness to experiment with surface, texture, and color. In Danseurs, he employs engraving into the clay surface to create linear motifs, later highlighted with glaze against a contrasting black ground. This technique results in a striking interplay of negative and positive space: the white-glazed lines seem to leap forward against the velvety darkness of the background. The black patinated ground adds depth and drama, functioning almost like a night stage on which the figures perform. The engraved white forms, both fluid and minimal, are enhanced by the tactile surface of the clay, reminding us that this is not only an image but a sculptural object. The composition depicts two dancers, their bodies distilled into gestural strokes and curves. Picasso reduces the human form to its essentials—arched limbs, tilted heads, sweeping torsos—yet their postures unmistakably suggest rhythm, movement, and interaction. The arcing white lines form a kind of choreographic dialogue, the figures bound together by the circular framing at the base. The reduction of the figures to near-abstraction recalls both Picasso’s Cubist simplifications and his lifelong interest in the expressive power of the human body. The dancers are not static portraits but symbols of vitality and continuity, their forms evoking both ancient cave drawings and modern abstraction. By 1956, Picasso had already been working in ceramics for a decade at the Madoura atelier in Vallauris, producing an extraordinary range of plates, vases, and sculptural forms. His genius lay in adapting his visual language—honed through painting, drawing, and printmaking—to the unique properties of clay. In Danseurs, he exploits the engraved line much like he would an etching plate, carving into the surface to define form, then accentuating it with glaze for contrast and luminosity. This synthesis of graphic and sculptural techniques demonstrates how Picasso elevated ceramics from craft to fine art. Rather than merely decorating clay, he transformed it into a living surface for experimentation with line, form, and movement. Dance is a recurring theme in Picasso’s work, linked to both his fascination with classical antiquity and his interest in the expressive capacity of the body. The dancers in this ceramic resonate with ancient motifs of ritual dance, recalling friezes and amphorae from Greek pottery, while also aligning with modernist ideals of abstraction and reduction. By situating dance within the circular frame of a plate, Picasso connects performance with ritual, turning the vessel into an object of symbolic resonance. Danseurs (1956) encapsulates Picasso’s brilliance in ceramics: his ability to reduce the human body to essential gestures while preserving its energy and vitality. Through engraved line, glaze, and the stark contrast of white on black, he creates an image that feels at once ancient and modern, decorative yet monumental. The piece highlights Picasso’s prolific engagement with ceramics during the Vallauris years, reaffirming how he used the medium not as a sideline to painting and printmaking but as a full artistic arena, where timeless themes such as dance, myth, and the human figure could be reimagined through clay. For more information or to buy Danseurs (1956) by Pablo Picasso, contact our galleries using the form below.
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Edition & Provenance
- Year
- 1956
- Medium
- White earthenware clay, engraving accentuated withe glaze, black patinated ground
- Edition
- Edition of 500
About Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973, born Málaga, Spain) is the most productive and formally transformative artist in the history of Western art — a figure whose influence on twentieth-century painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics is so pervasive that it remains, more than fifty years after his death, genuinely difficult to assess. Born in Málaga to an art teacher father who recognised and encouraged his prodigious talent, Picasso studied in Barcelona and Madrid before arriving in Paris in the early years of the twentieth century, where the encounter with Cézanne, African art, and his own restless intelligence produced Cubism — perhaps the most radical rupture in the history of representation since the Renaissance.
Pablo Picasso prints for sale at Guy Hepner represent one of the most significant collecting opportunities in the modern art market. Our gallery offers original Picasso lithographs, linocuts, etchings, and aquatints — each accompanied by full provenance documentation and catalogue raisonné references. Whether you are seeking a signed Mourlot lithograph, a Vollard Suite etching, a Vallauris linocut, or a late aquatint, Guy Hepner has the expertise and inventory to assist collectors at every level.
Pablo Picasso Prints For Sale
Picasso's print output is among the richest and most varied in art history, spanning etchings, lithographs, linocuts, and aquatints produced across seven decades. Understanding the categories is essential to collecting intelligently.
Lithographs were produced primarily through Fernand Mourlot's atelier in Paris, where Picasso worked from 1945 onwards. Mourlot documented over 400 lithographs bearing Picasso's hand, ranging from abstract heads and Cubist still lifes to the monumental Toros y Toreros bull-fighting series. Editions typically run from 50 to 275 copies. Unsigned Mourlot lithographs trade between $3,000 and $40,000; signed examples command $15,000 to $150,000 or more depending on subject and condition.
Linocuts, produced primarily at Vallauris between 1958 and 1963 using Picasso's own colour-reduction technique, are among the most technically revolutionary of all his prints. By cutting progressively deeper into a single block, Picasso achieved complex colour sequences impossible by conventional means. Edition sizes are small — typically 50 copies — and signed linocuts frequently exceed $80,000 at auction.
Etchings span Picasso's entire career, from his earliest Parisian years through to the late suites of the 1960s and early 1970s. The medium suited his restless line perfectly, and his etched output includes some of the finest prints of the twentieth century. Edition sizes vary widely, from the 50 impressions of the Vollard Suite to smaller later editions. Prices range from $5,000 for minor early works to well over $500,000 for Vollard Suite masterpieces.
Aquatints combine etching's linear precision with tonal washes of extraordinary subtlety. Picasso's aquatint work, often produced in collaboration with master printer Roger Lacourière, includes some of his most formally sophisticated printed images. These prints are rarer than his lithographs and command significant premiums accordingly.
Authentication for all Picasso prints relies on the Bloch catalogue raisonné — the definitive scholarly record of his print output — supplemented by Mourlot's lithograph catalogue where applicable.
Pablo Picasso Paintings For Sale
Picasso's paintings represent the summit of the twentieth-century market. Understanding his periods is essential for collectors.
The Blue Period (1901–1904) produced austere, emotionally charged paintings on themes of poverty, isolation, and melancholy — elongated figures rendered in blue-grey tones that echo El Greco and carry an extraordinary psychological weight. Works from this period are among the most sought-after in the history of art.
The Rose Period (1904–1906) brought warmer hues and more tender subjects — circus performers, saltimbanques, and acrobats rendered with a new formal assurance. The transitional works that followed, leading to Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), represent the hinge on which the entire history of modern painting pivots.
The Cubist period (1907–1921), co-developed with Georges Braque, produced the most intellectually radical body of painting in the twentieth century. Analytic Cubism (1909–1912) fragmented forms into near-monochromatic facets; Synthetic Cubism (from 1912) introduced collage, typography, and bolder colour. Major Cubist paintings are virtually never available on the primary market; they appear at auction rarely and achieve extraordinary prices.
Picasso's auction record stands at $179,365,000 — achieved at Christie's New York in May 2015 for Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O), a 1955 work from his series responding to Delacroix. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932) reached $106,482,500 at Christie's in May 2010. These are benchmark figures for a career that produced well over 16,000 works catalogued by Zervos.
Collecting Picasso: What to Look For
The most desirable areas of the Picasso print market for serious collectors are well-defined.
The Vollard Suite (1930–1937): ninety-seven etchings (and three aquatints with Roger Lacourière) commissioned by dealer Ambroise Vollard. The suite is considered Picasso's greatest print achievement — 100 plates encompassing the Sculptor's Studio sequence, the Minotaur series, and intimate portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter. Published posthumously by Vollard's estate, the complete suite is extraordinarily rare. Individual plates now trade from $80,000 to over $500,000.
Suite 347 (1968): three hundred and forty-seven etchings completed in seven months when Picasso was eighty-six years old — an astonishing demonstration of creative energy in extreme old age. Themes include Degas's brothel scenes, Spanish picadors, Rembrandt, and Ingres. Published by Galerie Louise Leiris. These prints represent exceptional value relative to their historical importance.
Mourlot lithographs: Fernando Mourlot's catalogue documents Picasso's lithographic output with scholarly precision. The Bloch numbers (B.1 through B.2042 for the complete print oeuvre) and Mourlot numbers together form the authentication framework used by every major auction house.
Crommelynck etchings: Piero and Aldo Crommelynck's Paris workshop produced Picasso's late etchings with extraordinary technical refinement. The 347 Suite plates were printed here, as were the 156 Series etchings (1970–1972) — Picasso's final major print campaign.
Condition criteria for print collecting: look for clean, wide margins with no trimming; avoid foxing (rust-coloured spots from paper acidity) or tide lines; fading affects lithographs most severely — examine under strong light. Impressions on Japan paper or with remarques command significant premiums.
Picasso Authentication
Authentication for Picasso works operates through established institutional channels.
For prints: the Bloch catalogue raisonné (Picasso: His Graphic Work, Volumes I–IV) provides reference numbers for all known prints. Mourlot's catalogue covers lithographs specifically. The Succession Picasso estate stamp appears on many posthumously published editions. Any print without clear catalogue raisonné reference and provenance chain should be examined by a specialist before purchase.
For paintings and works on paper: the Comité Picasso (now dissolved) was the primary authentication body; the Succession Picasso now handles estate matters. The Zervos catalogue raisonné (33 volumes) is the authoritative scholarly record for paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Expert authentication by a recognised Picasso specialist is essential for any major purchase.
Guy Hepner Gallery, 177 Tenth Avenue, New York, offers full provenance verification and catalogue raisonné consultation for all Picasso works. We provide free, confidential valuations for collectors looking to sell, and access to a global network of qualified buyers. Our expertise spans ceramics, prints, linocuts, drawings, and paintings across all periods of the artist's work.