“Ceramique”
(Portrait of Pablo Picasso)
36″ x 24″ x 18″
Ceramic
2000
Private Collection, Calistoga, CA

Details

The Picasso bust is the first in the “Art Hero” series. This portrait grouping includes Robert Arneson, Clayton Bailey, Alexander Calder, Robert Crumb, Rube Goldberg, Keith Haring, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, and Basil Wolverton. While on family trips to visit relatives in New York in the 1960s, Tony’s parents exposed him to the city’s cultural sector through visits to museums. Tony became aware of Picasso’s art as it was shown in all the major New York City art museums, and he was inspired to research the artist’s life. Picasso’s bold experimentation with different materials and techniques attracted and sustained Tony’s attention. The young Tony thought Picasso’s explorations were brave and worthy of emulation. Personifying this approach, Tony’s teacher Robert Arneson would later advise him to “be like a scientist and try everything, and if it doesn’t work, throw it out.” This is advice to which Tony has adhered throughout his practice.

When sculpting this first “Art Hero,” Tony depicted Picasso as a ceramic artist by placing a paintbrush in his right hand and a newly painted ceramic pot in his left. This is Tony’s sly and effective strategy to elevate ceramics from its lowly craft status to the position of high art. Picasso’s outstretched hand cradling a clay vase is there to remind us that one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century “has whole floors in museums dedicated to his work in ceramics.”