HEATHER JAMES FINE ART PRESENTS MAJOR PICASSO EXHIBITION

HEATHER JAMES FINE ART IN PALM DESERT, CA, HAS ESTABLISHED ITSELF AMONG US AND INTERNATIONAL ART COLLECTORS AS ONE OF THE NATION'S PREMIER GALLERIES WITH SHOWS BY MONET, RAUSCHENBERG AND DIVERSE, UP AND COMING YOUNG ARTISTS. RECENTLY IT ANNOUNCED A NEW WORLD-CLASS PICASSO EXHIBITION THAT WILL SURVEY THE MASTER'S PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND SCULPTURES FROM SEVERAL OF HIS MAJOR PERIODS, INCLUDING CUBISM, AND WILL HIGHLIGHT AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION OF 80 PIECES OF PICASSO'S CERAMICS. THE STUNNING WORKS WILL APPEAL TO A WIDE RANGE OF COLLECTORS WITH PRICES FROM $5000 TO $25 MILLION. THE SHOW WILL RUN THROUGH TO 14.MARCH.2010. 'PICASSO WAS AN ARTIST THAT INFLUENCED MULTIPLE GENERATIONS', SAYS CHIP TOM, CURATOR FOR THE HEATHER JAMES FINE ARTS. 'THAT'S DUE NOT ONLY TO HIS BRILLIANCE, BUT ALSO TO HOW LONG HE LIVED AND WORKED. HE WAS AN ARTIST WHO WAS PERSONALLY PUSHING HIS OWN ART TO NEW LEVELS EVERYDAY, EXPERIMENTING WITH DIVERSE GENRES AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES, CHALLENGING HIMSELF TO CREATE IN MANY DIFFERENT MEDIUMS.'
PICASSO, WHO DIED IN 1973 AT THE AGE OF 92, CREATED THOUSANDS OF UNIQUE CERAMICS DURING HIS LIFETIME, MANY MADE IN LIMITED EDITIONS AT THE MADOURA POTTERY FACTORY IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. THE CERAMICS, LIKE ALL OF HIS WORK, REFLECT THE ARTIST'S PASSION FOR MYTHOLOGY AND WOMEN. 'THESE PIECES ARE VERY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND TIMES REFLECT PICASSO'S VERY SEXUAL NATURE', SAYS THE OWNER OF THE COLLECTION. 'HE WAS A PROLIFIC PRINT MAKER AND HE SAW THE CLAY AS AN EXTENSION OF HIS ETCHINGS AND PAINTINGS. HE WOULD FIND OBJECTS AND PRESS THEM INTO THE CLAY, HE WOULD ETCH IMAGES INTO THE WET CLAY AND HE WOULD PAINT THE PIECES BEFORE THEY WERE FIRED IN THE KILN. PICASSO MADE THE CERAMICS SO PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD HIS PAINTINGS COULD ENJOY AND BUY HIS ART.' ACCORDING TO THE COLLECTOR, THE STANDOUT PIECE OF THE EXHIBIT, AND IN PICASSO'S CERAMIC UNIVERSE' IS A GRAND WHITE VASE WITH FOUR PANELS THAT PICASSO DESIGNED AND SUPERVISED THE MAKING OF HIMSELF. FROM AN EDITION OF 25, THE VASE REVEALS ICONIC IMAGERY THAT HE LOVED AND REPEATED THROUGHOUT HIS LIFETIME, WITH A DIFFERENT IMAGE ETCHED ON EACH OF ITS FOUR SIDES; A POWERFUL SMILING SUN, A HUMAN FACE, AND WOMAN FRONT AND BACK - HER SEX AND BELLY BUTTON ON THE FRONT, HER BUTTOCKS ON THE BACKSIDE. PICASSO TRULY LOVED TO DO THE CERAMICS BECAUSE THEY GAVE PEOPLE A TACTILE EXPERIENCE, NOT LIKE PAINTINGS.