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Unearthed | 1950s and 1960s


The ethos of experimentation and hands-on learning embraced during the 1930s and 40s laid the foundation for ceramics to flourish in the West during the 1950s and 60s. California, due to its well-established academic programs and bounty of natural materials became the central hub of ceramics production in the American West.

Voulkos sits at the center of a crucial debate in American ceramics of the ‘50s and 60s. Tensions grew between potters working in the vessel tradition and those, like Voulkos, who began playfully deconstructing the traditional norms of vessel making. For this rule-breaking avant-garde, the gestural possibilities of handbuilding with clay embraced the principles of Abstract Expressionism.

The 1960s marks a definitive break within the identity of the American ceramist. While many makers continue to adhere to the vessel tradition and identify as potters, the emerging younger generation invested in the sculptural possibilities of clay became artist-craftsman—signaling a push away from traditional crafts and toward fine art that would dominate future decades.

Showing 25 to 36 of 47 Records


a

James Melchert (aka Jim Melchert) Ceramicist

Stoneware, wood, plexiglass

Jar

Marie Z. Chino Ceramicist

Earthenware

Bowl

Otto Natzler Ceramicist
Gertrud Natzler Ceramicist

Earthenware

Bottle

Antonio Prieto Ceramicist

Stoneware

Mug

Erik Gronborg Ceramicist

Stoneware

Jar

Eunice Prieto Ceramicist

Porcelain

Bowl

Eunice Prieto Ceramicist

Stoneware


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Showing 25 to 36 of 47 Records





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