Atelier Galerie Gilbert Portanier, Vallauris (FR)
September 7–27, 2026
Opening: Saturday, September 5, 2026, 11 a.m.
Gilbert Portanier, that great master of French ceramics, would have turned 100 this year. To mark this special occasion, his wife, Annette Chaillard-Portanier, is exhibiting a very personal selection of ceramics in the studio he designed himself in their home in Vallauris, in the south of France.
Portanier’s work was influenced by a harmonious combination of ceramic form and gestural painting, in which his experimental surface techniques and a free vocabulary of forms opened up the possibilities of what studio ceramics could be. Delicate yet powerful illustrations lend the objects and sculptures their very own radiance, which extends far beyond the purely sculptural. Through his oeuvre he contributed fundamentally to the international recognition of French ceramic art.
In addition, a small publication has been released to mark this occasion presenting the essence of his half-century of creative work. We are delighted that, following the comprehensive tribute to Gilbert Portanier’s Œuvres 2000–2008, published in 2008, this very personal book—featuring an essay by Martine Denis-Linton—is now also being published as part of our program.
