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three vases that are sitting on a white surfacethree small vases that are sitting on a white surfacea black and white vase sitting on a white surfacea close up of a dirty bowl with a tag on ita small vase that is sitting on a white surfacea close up of a bowl with a tag on ita brown and green vase sitting on a white surfacea close up of a brown bowl with a smiley face in it
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Estimate €1,500 - €2,000
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Description
René BEN LISA Small-necked, rimmed ball vases – circa 1987 Glazed earthenware with metallic sheen Incised monogram signature beneath the base Glazed earthenware with metallic sheen; incised monogram beneath the base Provenance: Galerie Sarver, Paris Acquired from the gallery by the current owner Of Kabyle and Andalusian descent, René Ben Lisa was born in 1926 in Marseille, where he spent his childhood and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, in the painting department. There, he was notably a pupil of Émilie Decanis, an iconic figure in the Aix-en-Provence ceramics scene, who trained a whole generation of young artists. After a brief career as a painter, he turned to ceramics in 1947 and left Marseille to settle in La Prignonne, near Aix-en-Provence. A solitary stoneware potter in Provence – a region renowned for its earthenware and glazed pottery – Ben Lisa developed a poetic and introspective body of work, comprising spheres and rounded forms evoking inner landscapes. He summarised his approach as follows: “I work in absolute emptiness. I do not plan ahead. Strokes become a tree, a rock…’ The ceramicist Claude Champy describes his work as the creation of ‘imaginary spheres, spheres of reverie, with infinite, subtle and superb curves’. In 1971, he began a correspondence with the ceramist Philippe Lambercy, and then in 1987 with the young potter Michel Le Gentil; these exchanges continued until his death in 1995. This correspondence, published under the title *Propos d’un céramiste*, reveals the profound reflections of an artist driven by a tireless quest for the truth of the ceramic work, rather than merely its beauty. René BEN LISA
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About the sale Earth & Fire: Ceramics
Auction location
Auction time 10/23/2026 at 4:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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