Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

 

Sylvette David (aka Lydia Corbett) at Vallauris market

Photo – Steven Haywood

 

A bevy of artists had an ongoing intrigue with the creative exploits of Pablo Picasso in France during the Mid Century and that fascination was further enhanced when Sylvette David (Lydia Corbett} became his muse in the 50’s. Her distinctive blond hair and ponytail inspired decorative illustrations of stylized females on countless art objects during this era. Picasso had observed her enigmatic, ethereal beauty from his studio window in rue du Fournas, in Vallauris, for over 12 months before he began to use her as a model for painting and sculptures in 1954. He produced over 60 art pieces during his prolific “Sylvette phase” where he captured her youthful exhuberance in a variety of mediums and styles. As a muse, she relished the opportunity to spend time with Picasso and witness how he worked in silence, while in deep concentration, with a calm descending upon his chaotic studio. Picasso said that when he went into his studio, he left his body outside. She acknowledged that this contemplative appraoch possesses the ability to lead you to an inner world closer to you own soul. Picasso also stated that “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

Lydia went on to become an artist in her own right and believes that her time with Picasso and the artist communities in Southern France had a tangible influence on her art. She is still working as an artist at the age of 85, drawing inspiration from the sea and moorlands near he home in South Devon and from animals such as horses and doves.

She has also been influenced by the Japanese artist Hokusai, who claimed that by the age of 73, he partly understood the structure of animals, birds, insects and fishes, and the life of grasses and plants. With further progress, he intended to penetrate their secret meaning by the age of 90 and by 100, he felt that perhaps he might truly reach the level of the marvelous and the divine. “When I reach 110, each dot, each line will possess a life of its own” he said. He was in it for the long haul and I feel Lydia also intends to aspire to these chronological, mystical concepts.

 

Lydia Corbett – ‘Byzantine Lady with Pot’

Adrain Hill Fine Art

 

 

 

Lydia Corbett – ‘Jug Lady’

 

 

 

Lydia Corbett watercolour painting

 

 

 

 China Goblets with faces – Lydia Corbett

2018, painted ceramic, clear glaze

 

 

 

Picasso in his studio sketching Sylvette David

Photo by Francois Pages

 

 

Lydia Corbett – Ceramic vase with Rheinish influences

 

 

Oil on Canvas ‘A doll and lilies’ –  Lydia Corbett

 

 

‘A forest of lady figures’ – Lydias Corbett

iwassylvette-Instagram

 

‘Homage to Picasso’ – Murano Sculpture by Walter Furlan

 

 

Marcello Fantoni Abstract Modernist Ceramic Vase

10.5-inches height

 

 

Vintage Edna Arnow Chicago Studio Art Pottery Vase

 

 

Janurary pots Lydia Corbett

iwassylvette on Instagram

 

 

 

Sylvette David, Vallauris

 

 

Lydia Corbett Jug Face in Turquoise,  painted ceramic, clear glaze

2018

 

Lydia Corbett – ‘Mermaid’

 

 

‘Le cavalier’ – Pablo Picasso

1950

 

 

 Lydia Corbett —  ‘Portrait of a Woman’

David Simon Contemporary Art Gallery Bath

 

 

Face portrait plate – Le Grand Chene workshop, Vallauris

 

 

Posing with her portrait – Sylvette David

 

 

Lucien Lelong design, René Gruau illustration

1946

 

 

Lydia Corbett – Red Oxide Vase

1989 red oxide on clay, wax resist stoneware

 

 

 

Lydia Corbet watercolour and black line painting

 

 

Lydia Corbett – Mother and child ceramic sculpture

 

 

 

Lydia Corbett ceramic goblets

 

 

‘Poppies – Viola Music’  – Lydia Corbett

Delamore Arts

 

 

Lydia Corbett—vase with nude females

 

 

Lydia Corbett pottery art

 

 

Lydia Corbett ceramic vessels

 

 

Lydia Corbett -studio art pottery

 

 

Lydia Corbett three handled vase

 

 

‘Lying in the poppies at night’ – Lydia Corbett

Oil on Canvas

 

 

‘Nature morte au Casse Croute’—-linocut by Picasso

 

 

 

Michel Barbier Mid Century plate

Vallauris

 

 

 

Picasso — Portrait de Jacqueline en Carmen (L’Espagnole)

1963 linocut

 

 

Pablo Picasso – ‘Orange and Blue Pitcher’

1937

 

Picasso Sylvette sculpture

Rotterdam

 

 

‘Nature Morte au Verre sous La Lampe’ – Pablo Picasso

Linocut -1962

 

 

Picasso Ceramics–Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

 

 

Picasso in his Vallauris workshop

 

 

Sylvette sculpture — Picasso

 

 

Lydia Corbett pottery vessels

 

 

‘Sylvette & Lydia’  watercolour painting — Lydia- Corbet

 

 

Sylvette in Picasso studio, France

 

 

Lydia David at her South Devon studio

 

 

Sylvette – Picasso

 

 

‘Tete d’une Femme Lisant’  –  Pablo Picasso

 

 

Sylvette – Picasso

 

‘Syrian Mother’ ceramic sculpture – Lydia Corbett

 

 

Lydis Corbett — ‘The French Knight’

2018

 

 

‘Village in the Clouds’ – Lydia Corbett

1990 stoneware with separate porcelain cloud

 

 

Collection of female figure vessels — Lydia Corbett

 

 

Marcello Fantoni vintage Italian ceramic vase

 

 

Harlequin tapestry – Picasso

1915

 

 

 

Picasso  — ‘Hibon Marron Noir’ vase