Setting the American Style Like other craft artists, ceramists have always benefited from history, tradition, and their own intense visions. There are those individuals and institutions whose influences have reached far and wide.
• George Ohr, As "the mad potter of Biloxi", he was a pottery prophet. His often weird, ruffled forms anticipated modern styles by 50 years, but he could barely give his work away when alive.
• Adelaide Alsop Robineau, Pioneer ceramist, her 1911 signature piece, Scarab Vase, was deemed as fine a piece as any created in the studios of Europe; in 2000 it was designated by Art & Antiques Magazine as the most important piece of American ceramics of the century.
• Mary Chase Stratton, An important figure in Detroit’s artistic and cultural life, she established Pewabic Pottery in 1903. Their artists created art pottery that grace some of America’s finest collections, and tile work and ornaments that elevate countless public facilities.
• Newcomb Pottery, Established at New Orleans’ Sophie Newcomb College at Tulane this groundbreaking program combined fine arts curricula and studio business; 90 women artists produced some 70,000 pieces – no two exactly alike – between 1894 and 1940.
• Archie Bray Foundation, In Helena, Montana this center provides artist residencies and workshops at all levels encouraging the enrichment of the ceramic arts. Its “alumni” list reads like a veritable who’s who, including Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio, Ken Ferguson, David Shaner, Jun Kaneko, Victor Babu, Wayne Higby, Betty Woodman, Kurt Weiser, Sarah Jaeger, and Richard Notkin.
Archie Bray Arches, Helena, Montana, Courtesy of Craft In America, Inc.
• Peter Voulkos, Known for his Expressionist ceramic sculptures, he almost single-handedly bridged the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art.
• Rudy Autio, Artist and long-time teacher, his torso-shaped vessels are decorated with human and animal figures, combining the values of Henri Matisse and ancient Etruscan works.
Rudy Autio, Courtesy of Craft In America, Inc.
• Richard Notkin, Self-described “tool and die man”, he makes technically defined teapots that uses sculpted images of war, death, and destruction as political statement.
Left: Richard Notkin, Hexagonal Curbside Teapot (Variation #17)- Yixing Series, Courtesy of the artist
Right: Adrian Saxe, Shiitake Jamboree, 2001-04, Courtesy of Frank Lloyd Gallery
• Maria and Santana Martinez This mother and daughter-in-law created the famous gray-on-black vessels typical of their San Ildefonso Pueblo in northern New Mexico. Their work spanned more than a century, and are perhaps the most recognizable American Indian ceramic icons.
• David Gurney, This painter, naturalist, and ceramic artist has been influenced by Mexican folk art and his central California landscape to create figurative “Trees of Life” as well as mythical "landscapes".
• Adrian Saxe, A true renaissance cermaist, his vessels combine flamboyance, formal elegance, and a special wit with historical styles, cultural references and unexpected embellishments. Perhaps even more important, as chair of the ceramics program at UCLA, he has encouraged and influenced two generations of artists to break the bonds of conventional art.
