Vallauris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vallauris is a commune in the département of Alpes-Maritimes and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. It is located in the metropolitan Community of Agglomeration of Sophia-Antipolis, and is a suburb of the city of Antibes, bordering it on its west side. In the 1999 census, Vallauris had a population of 25,773.

In 1948, Picasso came to live in Vallauris where he stayed until 1955. During his time there, he created a great many sculptures and paintings including War and Peace, which was one of the major artworks of the period. He also developed a fascination for the two techniques of ceramics and linocuts. As freeman of the town, Picasso greatly contributed to the renaissance of the Vallauris pottery industry in the 1950s, this mythical golden age and time when everyone was a potter, including famous ceramicist Roger Capron. Many inhabitants still evoke his presence and that of his contemporaries (Françoise Gilot and her children Claude and Paloma, then Jacqueline Roque, his last partner whom he married amid the greatest secrecy at Vallauris town hall in 1961), the bullfights, exhibitions and visits by all kinds of famous people.

In 2007 Jonathan Adler introduced a new line of ceramics named for the town.