Studio Potter 2015 Volume 43 Number 2 Summer/Fall 2015 | Page 21

21

History

by Léopold L. Foulem

Of the many famous painters and sculptors who have decorated or
even made ceramics during their artistic career, it might be fair to
say that most of them came to the medium as decorators and that
their output constitutes mere anecdotal episodes in the history of
ceramics. Interest in their production is due to their reputation as
fine artists, not its inherent artistic merit. Very few created new
forms or invented novel images, especially as far as ceramics or
the vessel-as-image is concerned. Their customary approach was
to transfer singular, two-dimensional imagery onto ceramic objects without regard to their intrinsic volumetric structure. They
simply treated the surface of the pot like canvas or another neutral
ground, which it is not, at either the formal or conceptual levels. Paul
Gauguin (1848–1908) and Lucio Fontana (1899–1968) are notable
exceptions. And then there is Pablo Picasso (1881–1973).
SEE MORE:
HTTP://TINYURL.COM/Q8NDJ4Y

Pablo Picasso
What is so remarkable about Picasso
the potter is his understanding and bold
utilization of ceramics per se. For him,
the medium was more than just another
creative adventure. He was acutely aware
that he was entering a distinct artistic space
and specificity. His unique conceptual
insight and his phenomenal grasp of
the positive and negative space inherent
in pottery forms set him squarely apart
not only from his fine-art colleagues but
also from the traditional approach to
pottery making. The fact that his ceramic
sculptures are not made using traditional
fine-art techniques, such as carving, must
be accounted for. With him, the exercise
becomes an exciting
intellectual assignment
rather than a material or
emotional preoccupation.