a great highlight at the Magnelli Museum, Museum of Ceramics, the exhibition:
Gilbert Portanier:
the path of dreams
Exhibition from October 19, 2024 to January 27, 2025
Magnelli Museum, ceramics museum, Vallauris
"I see my brush running over the surface, it takes charge, my only job is to let it do so. I feel the close contact between the guiding hand and the path of the dream. Now I know that I will never stop." Gilbert Portanier
The Magnelli Museum, a ceramics museum, is pleased to offer its visitors in the fall-winter 2024-2025, a monographic exhibition in tribute to Gilbert Portanier, an emblematic artist from the city of Vallauris, who passed away in 2023. Rightly nicknamed "the magician of colors", this French ceramist, painter and sculptor, born in Cannes in 1926, who has undeniably contributed to the revival of French ceramics from the 1950s to the present day, had not been the subject of a solo exhibition since the one dedicated to him by the Musée national de la céramique de Sèvres in 1998. Through a collection of more than 100 pieces - sculptures, ceramics and engravings - the exhibition Gilbert Portanier: le chemin du rêve will illustrate the different moments of one of the great names in contemporary ceramics, highlighting the significant works of his career, such as those called "narrative" drawing their sources from mythology.
Gilbert Portanier trained in architecture and painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1945 to 1948. During the summer of 1948, he went to Vallauris with his friends Albert Diato and Francine Del Pierre to try his hand at ceramics. Together, they founded the Triptyque and trained in this material. While Albert Diato and Francine Del Pierre returned to Paris, Gilbert Portanier chose to settle in Vallauris. He founded his own studio in 1954 in a former pottery that has now become the Gilbert Portanier studio gallery. His work was noticed very early on, particularly in Germany from 1954 where his works have since been regularly presented, and also on the American continent. Numerous prizes and awards subsequently punctuated a long career dotted with success.
Sculpture 1994 H. 28.5 cm x L. 24.5 cm x W. 9 cm Signed, dated Sculpture 2000 H. 28.5 cm x L. 20 cm x W. 7.5 cm Signed, dated
Fully assuming his lineage with Picasso, whose first lesson, that of freedom, he integrated, he approaches ceramics as a painter while demonstrating great technical mastery both in shaping - throwing but also stamping and molding - and in working with enamels, revealing a delicate and elegant work.
Through a chronological and thematic journey, the exhibition proposed in winter 2024 by the Magnelli Museum, Museum of Ceramics, wishes to offer its audiences a selection of emblematic works illustrating the evolution of Gilbert Portanier's style and the extent of his talent. His first creations present motifs, often abstract, testifying to his taste for calligraphy before he developed a more figurative iconography exploring different themes while always focusing on the relationships between graphics and color. In the 1950s, traditional forms, always finely turned, were understood as pictorial supports. The composition unfolds on plates or bottles whose edges, through the use of flat areas of color, create framing effects. Subsequently, he continued his research, particularly on enamels, and experimented with different production techniques. He evolved towards a more sculptural and formally freer approach, playing fully on the relationships between volume and decoration in pieces of increasingly imposing size.
Black and grey shield 1990 D. 43 cm x P. 3 cm
Eton 2013 D. 70 cm Signed, dated
The exhibition Gilbert Portanier: le chemin du rêve also presents a set of engravings by the artist to illustrate the diversity of his approaches as well as pieces created during his collaboration with the Rosenthal factory. This event is thus an invitation not only to discover or rediscover the work of a major ceramist who contributed to the revival of French ceramics from the 1950s to the present day, but also to indulge in daydreaming.
Cup 1997 H. 35 cm x D. 42.5 cm Signed, dated
2009 Cup H. 38 cm x D. 42 cm Signed, dated
"I am the acrobat, the juggler, who waits for the precise moment to launch himself, space tenses, time stops, geometry and chaos merge, the first color intervenes by jostling the others"
Gilbert Portanier
Theater 1987 H. 72.5 cm x L. 58 cm x W. 10 cm Signed, dated, dedicated
Figurine 2003 Porcelain H. 17 cm x L. 19 cm x W. 3 cm Signed, dated
Bell 1983 H. 25.5 cm x D. 17 cm Signed, dated
"I do not neglect the God Chance, a wink of creative destiny, but we must still recognize his own. He is everywhere, from the imperfection of our gestures to that of our plans, in the hollows of our decisions, in the slightly more or slightly less immeasurable." Gilbert Portanier
Vase 1980 H. 48 cm x L. 32 cm x W. 11 cm Signed, dated
2002 Cup H. 35 cm x L. 34.5 x W. 29 cm Signed, dated
"The finished, cooked form finds its fulfillment and my pleasure in the decoration painted on its sides. I cover the piece, like ivy, play with the form, with the brush I enjoy breaking the balance, distorting the symmetry, opening windows, building balusters, but whereas the painter who arrived in 48 was resolutely abstract, I now see the living being, the figuration, the volute, the arabesque emerging under my hand; a people of faces and shadows and a whole array of arguments that were hitherto unknown to me." Gilbert Portanier
Rosenthal
In 1964, through the painter Bob Gesinus, Gilbert Portanier met Philip Rosenthal and Peter Siemssen, respectively chairman of the board of directors of the prestigious German porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal and director of the galleries of the same company. Gilbert Portanier first exhibited his ceramics in Rosenthal stores, then he began to create specific models for the company.
This fruitful collaboration, which spanned thirty years, resulted in the creation of 250 pieces, made using an innovative technique derived from screen printing. Throughout this period, Gilbert Portanier regularly exhibited his works in the various Rosenthal Studio-Häuser, thus reinforcing his international reputation.
Rosenthal Collection “Alta mira” Undated Small vase H. 9 cm x D. 8 cm Candle holder H. 7 cm x D. 9 cm Bowl H. 7 cm x D. 28.5 cm Large vase H. 20 cm x D. 11 cm
Rosenthal Collection “Le midi” Undated Pair of vases H. 21 cm x W. 11.5 cm
"The earth bends to my whims, it lets itself be built or freed in a light stroll. I know it well. Already soft to the touch, sensitive to the slightest imprint, sensual. The hand slides over it or caresses it, texture, relief, mountains and wonders, but also rebellious and fleeting sometimes. It lends itself to the project or to the adventure." Gilbert Portanier
Gilbert Portanier, insatiable lover of clay and color
"The artist, as we understand at first glance, is not talkative. Oddly enough, his art is. One could believe, watching this meditative, dreamy and silent person live, that his ceramics will concentrate on research into enamel, depth, formal perfection, and tiny shifts. There is nothing like that in Portanier. His art is talkative, colorful, mischievous, ambiguous.
(...) I love his art as I love that of an author, from Stefan Zweig to Fred Vargas. Not to find the same grammar of forms but for a style, a writing, a way of taking you by the hand and taking you where he has decided.
Let us be careful not to think we understand the theater of Gilbert Portanier who likes to confuse the tracks to better leave us with the pleasure of discovering new meanings to his puzzles. »
Dominique Forest, Chief Curator of the Modern and Contemporary Department at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris.
Excerpt from Portanier Les retables d’argile, exhibition catalogue (Vallauris, Chapelle de la Miséricorde, 8 April – 22 May 2006), Vallauris, Direction des Affaires Culturelles de la Ville de Vallauris, 2006
Piggy bank 1978 H. 22 cm x L. 19 cm x W. 6.5 cm Signed, dated Bottle 1975 H. 17.5 cm x L. 23 cm x W. 9 cm Signed, dated Bottle 1976 H. 29 cm x L. 13 cm x W. 9.5 cm
“This love of clay, paint and colour has never died or waned, filling each day with challenges and new ideas. The process is play, not work; an abundance of joys provoked by touch, line, figuration and abstraction. The interpretation and reinterpretation are endless. Gilbert Portanier’s works are like a sumptuous meal where small, tasty morsels catch the eye, before giving way to the whole feast.”
Susan Jefferies Excerpt from the catalogue Gilbert Portanier OEuvres 2000-2009, Stuttgart, Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2009.
View of the workshop
© Ville de Vallauris Golfe-Juan
Musée Magnelli, ceramics museum, Vallauris
The Musée Magnelli, ceramics museum is housed in a former priory of the monks of Lérins, lords of Vallauris from the 11th to the 18th century. The current building dates from the 16th century and houses a remarkable Renaissance staircase, listed in the Inventory of Historical Monuments since 1951. Only the chapel bears witness to the medieval construction. After the French Revolution, the property was sold to the Daumas family. It became a place of residence. During the 1930s, the idea of making it a museum emerged. The project was relaunched at the end of the 1940s under the leadership of René Batigne and his wife Claire Voight Batigne. This Franco-American couple of collectors and patrons settled in Vallauris at a time when an unprecedented creative surge was taking shape. They founded the Tapis Vert workshop, a place of creation, and actively participated in the renewal of artistic and cultural life in Vallauris during the 1950s. They were interested in the abandoned chapel, restored it and wanted to create a museum there. In 1949, a first exhibition, From Palissy to Picasso, was inaugurated and on December 7, 1951, they founded the Association of Friends of the Museum. In 1952, Picasso created War and Peace for the chapel, which he donated to the French State; the national museum was inaugurated in 1959. The project for a municipal museum was relaunched during the 1960s. The City of Vallauris purchased the building in 1972. On July 8, 1977, the museum was inaugurated and in 1996, it took the name of the Magnelli Museum, a ceramics museum.
The museum’s collections
With nearly 1,500 works, the museum’s collections highlight the city’s remarkable artistic, artisanal, cultural and human heritage. They are structured around the works of two emblematic figures of 20th-century modernity: Pablo Picasso and Alberto Magnelli. The presentation of ceramic works bears witness to the rich history of this medium in Vallauris: from traditional culinary production to the technical and aesthetic innovations of artistic ceramics. The contemporary collections developed around prize-winning works at the Biennales and design attest to the vitality of the earthenware material.
Ground floor: permanent Picasso exhibition
The links woven between Pablo Picasso and Vallauris after the Second World War are both artistic and human links. Picasso lived in Vallauris from 1948 to 1955, but the story begins before and continues until his death. The museum presents a collection of ceramics, linocuts and photographs testifying to these links and Picasso's intense artistic activity during this period. A film Picasso, the Vallauris years retraces this fertile period. In addition to this tour, the creation of La Guerre et la Paix as well as the sculpture L’homme au mouton remain visible testimonies of Picasso's attachment to Vallauris and his commitment throughout these years. Since autumn 2022, the museum has been hosting 16 new ceramics, unique pieces, all dedicated to Suzanne Ramié.
1st floor: the ceramic collection
The historical tour allows you to understand the development of utilitarian production, then that of artistic ceramics through, in particular, the Massier at the end of the 19th century and the creators of the 1950s.
This historical tour can be found at the end of the exhibition "Gilbert Portanier. The path of the dream" which exceptionally occupies, for its entire duration, all the spaces of the 1st floor of the museum.
2nd floor: Alberto Magnelli
The Magnelli Museum, museum of ceramics has the most important public collection dedicated to the Italian painter Alberto Magnelli (1888 - 1971), pioneer of abstraction. It is a unique and exceptional collection because it has the particularity of having been constituted from the "Magnelli of Magnelli" that is to say a set of master works, preserved by the artist as essential milestones of his creation and which allow to follow his path from "invented painting" to abstraction. Over the years, it has been enriched with works testifying to the great wealth of Alberto Magnelli's plastic research: prints, collages, slate. Today, this represents a collection of forty-six works including nineteen oils on canvas.
ROYAL ARTS VISIONS; Gilbert Portanier: the path to dreams