My first artwork by gallerist Olivier Cornet

My first art acquisition?

I was about 11 years old when I spent some holidays with my aunt Mitou, uncle Louis and their son Stéphane in Juan Les Pins. We would go to the beach in the mornings and visit some villages in the afternoons. One day we went to the village of Vallauris, which in the 1950s was raised to the ranks of ceramic capital of France with the arrival of Picasso.

Anyway, on that summer day of 1977, we checked out many workshops and ateliers in the famous village but there was hardly anything I could afford. Still, I fell in love with this tiny earthenware ashtray by The Argonauts* which I was determined to buy as a gift for my parents. All my pocket money from the leather purse around my neck (trendy days) was gone, I could have filed for bankruptcy that day lol. 15 euro (or so) was a lot of money for an 11-year-old boy then!

My parents still have it and The Argonautes are now considered important ceramicists… French people who watch ‘Affaire Conclue’ on TV (the French ‘Deal or No Deal’) would be familiar with the name.

I was looking at the little cockerel (rooster for our American friends) today and thought I would write this note as I think this was the first artwork I have ever purchased. My love for ceramics comes from that memorable summer of 1977.

Greetings from France. Have a wonderful Christmas / festive break everyone!

Olivier Cornet, 25 December 2025.



*Les Argonautes (Frédérique Bourguet and Isabelle Ferlay), French workshop created in Vallauris, south of France, in 1953 and active until the death of Frederique Bourguet in 1997. 

Main image: Ashtray, earthenware by Les Argonautes, c.1977 (9 cm diam.)