Historical Ceramic Artists

Beatrice Wood (1893-1998) was an American potter during the U.S. Avant Garde Movement. Interestingly, she did not start her ceramics career until she was 40, after being inspired by a set of luster glazed plates she purchased and desiring to educate herself in the medium so that she could make a matching teapot. Today, she is most well-known for both her luster glaze finish to her vessels and satirical and provocative figures of people, especially women. Her hand modelled figures were often intentionally left somewhat unrefined, simple, or “unschooled”, as was characteristic of the New York Dada Movement. For instance, her sculpted people sometimes lacked noses and her fish would sometimes lack tails. Also, to achieve the luster finish to her thrown pieces, she would perform a reduction fire (by reducing the amount of oxygen that could interact with the glaze).

Sources: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-the-forgotten-legacy-of-cult-artist-beatrice-wood

https://www.facebook.com/beatoojai/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Wood

Peter Voulkos (1924-2002) was an American ceramics artist born to Greek immigrants. He is known for helping to pave the path for ceramic work to be recognized for its aesthetic qualities rather than simply for its functional abilities. He often allowed the creation process to dictate the final form of his pieces rather than having a preconceived idea. His ceramic work is composed of plates, sculptures (which he called stacks), vessels, and ice buckets.

Source: http://www.artnet.com/artists/peter-voulkos/

Maria Martinez (1884-1980) was a potter in the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico. She is most well-known for her black-on-black pottery and rediscovery of the ancient process involved in making such pottery. To turn a red clay-bodied clay vessel to black, Maria Martinez had her husband, Julian Martinez, apply a special type of paint to burnished red clay-bodied vessels before the firing, and then ran the pieces through a low-temperature firing, before smothered the piece, during the final stages of firing, with dried cow manure to trap the smoke.

Source: https://www.mariamartinezpottery.com/about-maria-martinez.html

Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) was a Japanese potter and significant part of the mingei folk-art movement. He is most well-known for his expertly thrown tea bowls and vessels as well as his use of such glazes as tenmoku iron and nuka rice-husk ash. He often threw off-the-hump. In addition, he worked with several other potters, including Bernard Leach, and travelled around the world to share his techniques.

Source: https://www.mirviss.com/artists/hamada-shoji

Lucie Rie (1902-1995) was a British ceramics artist from Austria. She is most well-known for her thrown Modernist vessels, vases, and bowls. She is also well known for her use of vibrant glazes, including bright yellow, pink, yellow, blue, and green. She also created small clay pieces, such as buttons, and was later partnered by Hans Coper.

Source: http://www.artnet.com/artists/lucie-rie/

Hans Coper (1920-1981) was a Jewish ceramics artist from Germany. He started out his career helping Lucie Rie to make dinnerware and buttons in her British Studio. However, he later developed his own unique style of ceramics which involved combining multiple forms into single unified pieces. His pieces were often finished with neutral colors and slips, evoking ancient vessels.

Source: https://www.phillips.com/artist/1239/hans-coper