Sylvette David (aka Lydia Corbett) at Vallauris market
Photo – Steven Haywood
A bevy of artists had an ongoing intrigue with the creative exploits of Pablo Picasso in France during the Mid Century and that fascination was further enhanced when Sylvette David (Lydia Corbett} became his muse in the 50’s. Her distinctive blond hair and ponytail inspired decorative illustrations of stylized females on countless art objects during this era. Picasso had observed her enigmatic, ethereal beauty from his studio window in rue du Fournas, in Vallauris, for over 12 months before he began to use her as a model for painting and sculptures in 1954. He produced over 60 art pieces during his prolific “Sylvette phase” where he captured her youthful exhuberance in a variety of mediums and styles. As a muse, she relished the opportunity to spend time with Picasso and witness how he worked in silence, while in deep concentration, with a calm descending upon his chaotic studio. Picasso said that when he went into his studio, he left his body outside. She acknowledged that this contemplative appraoch possesses the ability to lead you to an inner world closer to you own soul. Picasso also stated that “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
Lydia went on to become an artist in her own right and believes that her time with Picasso and the artist communities in Southern France had a tangible influence on her art. She is still working as an artist at the age of 85, drawing inspiration from the sea and moorlands near he home in South Devon and from animals such as horses and doves.
She has also been influenced by the Japanese artist Hokusai, who claimed that by the age of 73, he partly understood the structure of animals, birds, insects and fishes, and the life of grasses and plants. With further progress, he intended to penetrate their secret meaning by the age of 90 and by 100, he felt that perhaps he might truly reach the level of the marvelous and the divine. “When I reach 110, each dot, each line will possess a life of its own” he said. He was in it for the long haul and I feel Lydia also intends to aspire to these chronological, mystical concepts.
Lydia Corbett – ‘Byzantine Lady with Pot’
Adrain Hill Fine Art
Lydia Corbett – ‘Jug Lady’
Lydia Corbett watercolour painting
China Goblets with faces – Lydia Corbett
2018, painted ceramic, clear glaze
Picasso in his studio sketching Sylvette David
Photo by Francois Pages
Lydia Corbett – Ceramic vase with Rheinish influences
Oil on Canvas ‘A doll and lilies’ – Lydia Corbett
‘A forest of lady figures’ – Lydias Corbett
iwassylvette-Instagram
‘Homage to Picasso’ – Murano Sculpture by Walter Furlan
Marcello Fantoni Abstract Modernist Ceramic Vase
10.5-inches height
Vintage Edna Arnow Chicago Studio Art Pottery Vase
Janurary pots Lydia Corbett
Sylvette David, Vallauris
Lydia Corbett Jug Face in Turquoise, painted ceramic, clear glaze
2018
Lydia Corbett – ‘Mermaid’
‘Le cavalier’ – Pablo Picasso
1950
Lydia Corbett — ‘Portrait of a Woman’
David Simon Contemporary Art Gallery Bath
Face portrait plate – Le Grand Chene workshop, Vallauris
Posing with her portrait – Sylvette David
Lucien Lelong design, René Gruau illustration
1946
Lydia Corbett – Red Oxide Vase
1989 red oxide on clay, wax resist stoneware
Lydia Corbet watercolour and black line painting
Lydia Corbett – Mother and child ceramic sculpture
Lydia Corbett ceramic goblets
‘Poppies – Viola Music’ – Lydia Corbett
Lydia Corbett—vase with nude females
Lydia Corbett pottery art
Lydia Corbett ceramic vessels
Lydia Corbett -studio art pottery
Lydia Corbett three handled vase
‘Lying in the poppies at night’ – Lydia Corbett
Oil on Canvas
‘Nature morte au Casse Croute’—-linocut by Picasso
Michel Barbier Mid Century plate
Vallauris
Picasso — Portrait de Jacqueline en Carmen (L’Espagnole)
1963 linocut
Pablo Picasso – ‘Orange and Blue Pitcher’
1937
Picasso Sylvette sculpture
Rotterdam
‘Nature Morte au Verre sous La Lampe’ – Pablo Picasso
Linocut -1962
Picasso Ceramics–Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Picasso in his Vallauris workshop
Sylvette sculpture — Picasso
Lydia Corbett pottery vessels
‘Sylvette & Lydia’ watercolour painting — Lydia- Corbet
Sylvette in Picasso studio, France
Lydia David at her South Devon studio
Sylvette – Picasso
‘Tete d’une Femme Lisant’ – Pablo Picasso
Sylvette – Picasso
‘Syrian Mother’ ceramic sculpture – Lydia Corbett
Lydis Corbett — ‘The French Knight’
2018
‘Village in the Clouds’ – Lydia Corbett
1990 stoneware with separate porcelain cloud
Collection of female figure vessels — Lydia Corbett
Marcello Fantoni vintage Italian ceramic vase
Harlequin tapestry – Picasso
1915
Picasso — ‘Hibon Marron Noir’ vase
