Earthenware Figurative Sculptures

This piece titled "Rooster Totem" is an original artwork made from Letterpress, coque feather, mixed media by Katie VanVliet. This piece is shipped in the pictured white frame and me...

Niki de Saint Phalle Brooch (Oiseau), ca. 2005 Zamak, gold tone finished, nickel free (Incised Signature) Incised signature on the back of the jewelry (Niki De Saint Phalle) and the clasp (Niki). 2 3/10 × 1 3/5 inches Authorized by the Estate of Niki de Saint Phalle! This colorful, whimsical piece - "Oiseau" (Bird) can be worn both as a brooch and as a necklace. Bears the Niki de Saint Phalle's incised signature. Collectible work. Makes a terrific gift. Biography of Niki de Saint Phalle Childhood Niki de Saint Phalle was born in France in 1930 to an aristocratic Catholic family. She had an American mother, a French banker father, four siblings, and grew up bilingual in French and English. Her father lost his wealth during the Great Depression and the family moved to the US in 1933, where Saint Phalle attended Brearley School, a girls' school in New York City. Saint Phalle reported later in her life, in an autobiography titled Mon Secret (1994), that her father had sexually abused her from age 11. From an early age, Saint Phalle pushed boundaries in her artistic and personal life. Though she found Brearley School to be a formative experience, later claiming that it was there she became a feminist, she was expelled for painting the fig leaves covering the genitals of statues on the school's campus red. She then attended Oldfields School in Maryland, graduating in 1947. As a young woman, Saint Phalle also worked as a model, appearing on the front covers of Life Magazine and Vogue. When she was 18, Saint Phalle eloped with Henry Matthews, an author and childhood friend. While Matthews studied music at Harvard University, Saint Phalle began to explore painting, and gave birth to her daughter Laura in 1951, when she was 20 years old. Early Training and work In 1952, the Matthews and Saint Phalle moved to Paris, where he continued to study music and Saint Phalle studied theater. The couple traveled extensively in Europe, gaining exposure to art by the Old Masters. The following year, Saint Phalle was diagnosed with a "nervous breakdown" and hospitalized in a psychiatric facility. She was encouraged to paint as a form of therapy, and consequently gave up her theater studies in favor of becoming an artist. The couple moved to Mallorca off the coast of Spain, where their son Philip was born in 1955. During this time, Saint Phalle developed her imaginative, self-taught style of painting, experimenting with a variety of forms and materials. She also discovered the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, which had a strong influence on her work. Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona was instrumental in Saint Phalle's early conceptualization of the elaborate sculpture garden she would fulfill much later in her career. Mature Period At the end of the 1950s, Saint Phalle and her husband moved back to Paris. In 1960, however, the couple separated and Saint Phalle moved to a new apartment, established a studio, and met artist Jean Tinguely, with whom she would collaborate artistically. Within a year, they had moved in together and begun a romantic relationship. Saint Phalle became part of the Nouveau Réalisme movement along with Tinguely, Yves Klein, Arman and others. She was the only woman in the group. Her first solo exhibition in 1961 punctuated a dynamic period of Saint Phalle's early career, and she met a number of influential artists living in Paris at the time, such as Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, whose use of found objects was to have a strong influence on Saint Phalle's work. She was also friendly with Marcel Duchamp, who first introduced her and Tinguely to Salvador Dalí. The three artists traveled to Spain together to an event celebrating Dali's work, in which a life-sized bull sculpture was detonated with fireworks. In 1963, Tinguely and Saint Phalle moved to an old house just outside Paris, where she began to work on architectural projects as well as her renowned shooting...

Created in 1963, ceramic Visage de face (Full-face Face) A.R. 508 is a round plate of red earthenware clay from the edition of 100. This work is stamped with the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' ...

Jackson Pollock 1000% Bearbrick Figurative Sculpture: A nicely sized (27 inch heigh), highly collectible Bearbrick Jackson Pollock statue piece, splattered from head to toe in Pollo...

Very Big Ceramic from "Les Argonautes" Vallauris Workshop "Les Argonautes", Vallauris: Isabelle Ferlay (1917-?) And Frédérique Bourguet (1925-1997) Isabelle Ferlay and Frédérique Bourguet founded their ceramic workshop in Vallauris in 1953, which they named "Les Argonautes", in reference to the famous Greek epic. Isabelle studied painting at the Fine Arts school of Lyon in 1940, then she attended the Fine Arts in Marseille. Finally, she finished her artistic training in Montpellier, at the Fontcarade national school, where she learned ceramics. Françoise dit Frédérique Bourguet studied at the Beaux-Arts in Montpellier until 1945 and it was in Sèvres, in Françoise Bizette's studio, that she trained in the art of ceramics. She created her first workshop in Paris in 1945, which she shared with Valentine Schlegel until 1951. The two women ceramicists then practiced modeling technique. It was in 1953 that she met Isabelle Ferlay and together, they decided to set up a workshop in Vallauris. They produce shaped pieces, sometimes molded, made of earthenware, enamelled in bright colors. In the 1970s they made stoneware cooked over a wood fire. Some ceramists frequented their workshop, notably the very talented Jacques Innocenti and François Raty.

This framed Picasso print, is an offset lithographic book plate from a captivating book, entitled Toros y Toreros (Bulls and Bullfighters), which ...

Yves Klein, Dying Slave after Michelangelo IKB blue resin in plexiglas, signed Rotraut Klein Moquay and numbered 224/300 on the base on a label. 300 editions numbered from “1/300” to...

Jean-Michel Basquiat Bearbrick 1000% Vinyl Figure: A unique, timeless collectible trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The partnered collectible reveals the ...

Takashi Murakami Flowers Skateboard Deck: A collaboration between Takashi Murakami and his friend, the rising Japanese artist 'Madsaki' (bio below). The impression is an urban twist...

Created in 1965, this terre de faïence sculpture with white slip is inscribed on the sculptural base with the atelier stamps ‘EDITION PICASSO’ and ‘MADOURA...

“Baseball Cap Extravagant” is a high-fired stoneware sculpture from Óscar Aldonza Torres’s “The Extravagants” series, finished in pale olive and s...

A whimsical vintage print by George Ernest Studdy, featuring a lively puppy lunging eagerly at its reflection in a mirror. Paired with the humorous caption, “If you see a good thing,...