All were produced in collaboration with the French silver and goldsmith François Hugo.
Visage aux Mains, shown below, and a rarely seen full set of 24 limited edition silver platters are currently on sale at Masterpiece Art. The London gallery says it is the first time they have been publicly exhibited all together in the UK.
A so-called ‘progenitor’ platter, Visage aux Mains hails from the small number of silver platters made for Picasso’s personal collection between 1956-58 and then acquired from his descendants.
Meanwhile, the 24-piece set was made by Ateliers Hugo in 1965 in an edition of 20 (plus two artist’s proofs for Picasso and Hugo) and feature a different design drawing upon three of the Spanish artist’s recurring themes: bullfighting, Jacqueline Roque and Henri Matisse.
Together they are priced at £2m-2.5m.
'Visage aux Mains' by Pablo Picasso and made personally for him – for sale with a limited edition 24-set of silver platters by Picasso for £2m-2.5m at Masterpiece Art. Image copyright: Maxim Souyri / Succession Picasso
Alex Cousens of Masterpiece Art told ATG: “Picasso/Hugo Agents d’Argent et d’Or offers the British public the first chance to see this wonderful complete collection of 24 handmade silver platters from the collaboration between Picasso and Hugo, which began in late 1956.”
Supplementing these are various related works in gold, archival material and photography by the famed Irish photographer, Edward Quinn, which is priced at £1500.
Picasso/Hugo Agents d’Argent et d’Or runs until February 20. A virtual tour can be accessed via the gallery’s website.
