Robert Winokur

American, b. 1933

Blue-Gold Tall Weed Vase
circa 1976

Stoneware
13.25 x 7.5 x 5.75 in.
Museum Permanent Collection
1984.522

Robert Winokur’s Blue-Gold Tall Weed Vase is a wheel-thrown stoneware vessel that is cylindrical through the majority of the form, with a sharply tapered neck and exaggerated open rim. Two small, hand-pulled loop handles help to delineate the point at which the vessel transitions from the belly to the neck. With distinct sections of golden brown and variegated blue hues, the applied glaze reveals the textured surface of the pot beneath, which is where Winokur’s signature style is truly on display. By preserving the throwing lines, adding gestural marks carved into the surface with a wooden tool, and leaving the impressions of his fingertips in the soft, freshly thrown surface, Winokur embraces the materiality of the clay and celebrates the potential for spontaneity inherent in the medium.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, Winokur developed a keen interest in ceramics during his high school art classes. He pursued these interests at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, Philadelphia, where he received a BFA degree in 1956. He went on to earn an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1958. That same year, Robert married fellow ceramic artist Paula Colton Winokur, and they shared a studio for more than fifty years. Winokur returned to Tyler in 1966 to become professor of ceramics, and later the department chair, until he retired as professor emeritus in 2005. Robert Winokur’s dedication to ceramics research and education led to numerous awards, both nationally and internationally, making him an important figure in the development of twentieth-century American ceramics.

Ayla Murray

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This object has the following keywords:

• blue

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• BLUE Experience (ceramic works) , 1/12/2015 - 6/9/2015
• Unearthed , 8/23/2022 - 5/14/2023

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