This compelling example of Picasso's Corrida verte (Green Corrida), 1949 depicts a minimalist landscape of green grass and blue sky. Four simple, white figures mounted on horseback or walking along all seem isolated in their own world. A bull runs towards the central figure and his horse, but rider and steed barely react. It becomes clear that Picasso used this rectangular dish as a sketchbook to explore scenes of the bullfight that may have marked his sense of Spanish identity. Swathes of green and dark blue stand out against the rich black ground of the work in which simplified images of grass, horizon and hills or mounds are carved. Pablo Picasso Corrida verte (Green Corrida), 1949 can be compared to such works as Bull in the arena, another rectangular ceramic dish showing a muscled, imposing bull standing to attention while a large crowd waits for the spectacle to begin. Our example opens small windows onto scenes from the fight: the suspense of the bullfighter, the horse tied to a post before it enters the stadium.

In 1949, this original earthenware dish was created at the Madoura Pottery workshop through a process designed by the owners, Suzanne and Georges Ramié, specifically for Picasso's needs. The artist engraved his subject on a hardened plaster matrix; fresh ceramic sheets were then laid on the matrix, becoming impressions of Picasso's design that made up the final edition (Ramié 9). Belonging to an edition of 500, this clay dish is inscribed underneath with authentic pottery stamps 'Madoura plein feu' and 'Empreinte originale de Picasso.' The ceramic is made of white clay decorated with engobes and engraved by knife under the glazing of red, green, white and black. It is a pleasing variant of the piece illustrated in the catalogue that exhibits slightly different decorative marks along the top and right edge of the work.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Pablo Picasso Corrida verte (Green Corrida), 1949 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices accompanying the final sale of the work):

1. Ramié, Alain. Picasso Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947-1971. Madoura: Galerie Madoura, 1988. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 81.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.