Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen

Martin Eidelberg

From the 1880s to the 1950s, pioneering American artists drew upon the rich traditions and recent innovations of European and Asian ceramics to develop new designs, decorations, and techniques. The extraordinary range and inventiveness of these American interpretations of international trends—from the Arts and Crafts and Art Deco movements to the modernism of Matisse and the Wiener Werkstätte to abstracted, minimalist styles—are exemplified in this book by more than 180 works from the outstanding collection of Martin Eidelberg. Splendid new photography and engaging essays by two of the foremost experts on American art pottery trace the period’s decorative developments, from sculptural and painted ornament to adornment with deeply colored glazes and textures. Featured makers include the renowned Rookwood, Grueby, and Van Briggle Potteries, as well as leading artists such as Maija Grotell, George E. Ohr, Frederick Hurten Rhead, Louis C. Tiffany, Rockwell Kent, Adelaide Alsop Robineau, and Leza McVey. A vivid and accessible overview of American ceramics and ceramists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Gifts from the Fire reveals how artists working in the United States drew upon diverse, global influences to produce works of astonishing variety and ingenuity.

American Ceramics, 1880–1950

Gifts from the Fire

Adrienne Spinozzi

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana} At the height of the Arts and Crafts era in Europe and the United States, American ceramics were transformed from industrially produced ornamental works to handcrafted art pottery. Celebrated ceramists such as George E. Ohr, Hugh C. Robertson, and M. Louise McLaughlin, and prize-winning potteries, including Grueby and Rookwood, harnessed the potential of the medium to create an astonishing range of dynamic forms and experimental glazes. Spanning the period from the 1870s to the 1950s, this volume chronicles the history of American art pottery through more than three hundred works in the outstanding collection of Robert A. Ellison Jr. In a series of fascinating chapters, the authors place these works in the context of turn-of-the-century commerce, design, and social history. Driven to innovate and at times fiercely competitive, some ceramists strove to discover and patent new styles and aesthetics, while others pursued more utopian aims, establishing artist communities that promoted education and handwork as therapy. Written by a team of esteemed scholars and copiously illustrated with sumptuous images, this book imparts a full understanding of American art pottery while celebrating the legacy of a visionary collector.

The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection

American Art Pottery

Nancy McClelland

Lars Rachen

A richly illustrated overview of the extraordinary lamps created by Louis Comfort Tiffany details the artistic quality, craftsmanship, and magnificent detail of these masterpieces of decorative art, accompanied by essays on the history of the lamps, their stylistic themes, and the design, development, and manufacture of each work, from freehand sketch to finished form.

Martin Eidelberg

About

Books

Join the club