CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CERAMIC PRESENCE
An abstract of a graduate project submitted
in partial satisfaction of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts in
by
Elaine Gloria Levin
June, 1973
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,
-
The graduate project of Elaine Gloria
Levin is approved:
California State University, Northridge
June, 1973
:---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------·-- ---------------- -------l
I
To Bill,
Jeffrey, Blair, Carol
and Rebecca
AC KN OWL EDGf~E NTS
I would like to extend my appreciation
for his valuable guidance and assistance
to my advisor, Dr. William Kasza, and
the members of my graduate committee,
Professor George Alsup and Dr. Donald
Strong .
I a rr. e s pe c i a 11 y grate f u1 to my
husband, Bill, for his encouragement,
his critical appraisal and his patience
throughout the development of this project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
Title Page
ii
Approval Page
i i;
Dedication
iv
Acknow·l edgments
v
Table of Contents
Abstract
Chapter One:
Two:
Three:
Four:
Introduction
1
Purpose
2
Procedure
4
Summary and Recommendations
8
Bibliography
10
Appendix A
15
Appendix B
16
Addendum
17
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ABSTRACT
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CERAMIC PRESENCE
by
Elaine Gloria Levin
Master of Arts in Art
June, 1973
I.
INTRODUCTION
Th i s t h e s i s p r o j e c t ,
ll
The Se a t· c h f o r a Ne w Ce ram i c
Presence, 11 consists of a group of seventy-seven s·lides
, which are accompanied by a taped narration of the subject
' and activity and investigation involved.
thesis
materia~
The specific
covers a ten-year period of development
and change in the ceramic area in the United States.
The
aesthetic in pottery changed from beauty combined with
utility, to an aesthetic that has been called abstract
expressionism.
Personal involvement in the ceramic area prompted
the investigation of the reasons for such a significant
change in the area.
When and why had this important
2
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change in ceramics occurred?
Many students in various
college ceramics classes were actually distorting pottery
without understanding exactly why they were doing so.
Perhaps an answer to this question was to be found in the
past work of ceramists involved with different approaches
to the media.
A catalogue at the Pasadena Museum of Art
described an exhibit of ceramics in 1966, titled
11
Abstract
65
Expressionist Ceramics."
In the introduction by John
65
Coplans
and the bibliography, there were references to
more materials that would document the artists involved in
this type of ceramics, as well as some of the reasons.
The sources in Coplans• bibliography referred to
Picasso, Mira, Bernard Leach and Sung dynasty pottery.
70
These names are in the Art Index,
a helpful index to
articles on contemporary artists.
26
such as Craft Horizons,
Certain magazines,
52
Artforum,
43
and Art in America
watch and report on these artists and the changes in art
styles.
It soon became clear that two artists, Peter
Voulkos and John Mason, were the prime movers in changing
the direction of work in clay.
I I.
PURPOSE
It seemed logical and necessary that other college
' students of ceramics should have this kind of information.
Students of painting and sculpture take art history
classes that give them an understanding of the past.
3
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'
There are no comparable classes for students in crafts.
Usually craft areas are mentioned very superficially in
art history classes.
In order to help ceramic students understand what
has happened in this area, a visual presentation of such
material would be necessary.
Slides with a taped narra-
tion seemed to be a practical solution.
In its final form, the project covers the years
1954 to 1964.
Most important is the work of Peter Voulkos
and John Mason.
These craftsmen shared a studio in Los
Angeles in 1954 while Voulkos taught at the Otis Art Institute.
Earlier, as a student of ceramics, Peter Voulkos
was strongly influenced by the work of Marguerite Wildenhain
24
11
and Bernard Leach.
In the slide presentation, a
comparison of Voulkos• work with Wildenhain and Leach is
presented to the viewer.
Later, in different ways, each
man responded to new ideas apparent in the ceramics of
Picasso
7
28
and Mira.
The slides also show how each man's
work was influenced by his use of these ideas.
This jux-
taposition of slides continues to show changes 1n the work
of Voulkos
'35
and Mason
47
as they are influenced by Japa18
nese raku, the blocky sculpture of Wotruba,
the emphasis
on instinct, impulse and the accidental in abstract expressionist painting.
In the final section of the project, the work of
two of Voulkos• students, Ken Price
66
60
and Paul Soldner,
4
is introduced.
Specific slides show how their early work
was influenced by what Voulkos and Mason were doing at the
time.
However, each found a new direction for his own
work with clay as his work matured.
The project concludes with Voulkos and Mason in
1964, showing their establishment of viable new directions
and ideas in the use of clay.
III.
PROCEDURE
All of the written material contained in the body
of the thesis was assembled as it was uncovered and researched for the period of 1954 to 1964.
Coordinated
with the research was a search for pictures in books or
magazines that were good examples of an artist's work during a particular period.
slides.
These pictures were made into
Some pertinent slides were available in the
California State University slide library which allowed
them to be copied.
·After a discussion with the graduate adviser, Dr.
Kasza, Department of General Studies in Art, his suggestion to abandon the strictly historical approach proved
to be very helpful.
Instead, the slides would show how
each artist mentioned specifically changed the work of
58
Voulkos
68
and Mason.
That seemed to make the project
much more cohesive and relevant.
With this new procedure, new sources for slides
5
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1
! had to be found.
Peter Voulkos and John Mason consented to be interviewed.
Mr. Voulkos found some pictures of his work
and Mr. Mason allowed his work to be photographed in his
studio.
Since some of the early work necessary for the
pr~
ject was not in the possession of either artist, other
sources had to be explored.
65
Fred Marer,
A collector in Los Angeles,
allowed a photographer to select what was
needed from his extensive collection.
This project re-
quired a special kind of dexterity since many interesting
items were we11 hidden in closets and in the rear of two
garages stuffed with huge, dust-covered pots, plates,
vases, etc.
In some instances, such as for the work of Ken
66
Price,
it was only by tracking down his agent in Los
Angeles that it was possible to find slides of his work
for the period needed for the project.
In order to find written material on the subject,
it was necessary to explore the card catalogues of several
adjacent libraries.
The County Museum of Art Library con-
tained some interesting material, especially a file of
announcements of gallery and museum exhibits of Voulkos'
and Mason's early work.
Requests were written for cata-
logues in hopes of finding pictures which could be used
and transferred to slides.
6
The University of California at Los Angeles art
library had a great deal of material on Chinese pottery
that proved useful as background material.
However, the
books in this library cannot be checked out.
The Brand Library in Glendale issues a special
card to graduate students not living in Glendale.
It pro-
vided the project with a great deal of material on
Picasso,
5
22
Mira,
and Wotruba.
2
The California State University library had the
necessary magazines as well as all the books written by
Leach
10
and good information on Japanese raku.
14
Finding the right material to use for slides was
one problem.
The other was getting the material photo-
graphed or duplicated so tnat the slides retained the
correct color.
Some of the slides from the State Univer-
sity slide library had been purchased from Sandak, a New
York firm that sells slides on art.
reproduced very poorly.
However, some were
Finding substitutes was essential
but difficult since catalogues from different slide companies contained little vsefu1 material.
The best way to coordinate the slides with a tape
seemed to be with a Sawyer 550 R, 2x2 slide projector.
The operator can time the projections manually to correspond to the narration on the tape.
The slide tray holds
the slides in the correct position so there is no need to
worry about getting them into the machine right side up.
7
Taping the material was a new experience for the
writer.
The tape made during the interview with Peter
Voulkos had many extraneous noises that could not be controlled.
Actually, the voice of Mr. Voulkos did not tape
very well, a fact not noticeable until the tape was replayed much later.
In order to successfully incorporate
his tape into the final material, the tape had to be
11
Washed 11 through many filters by a sound technician.
Ultimately, his words and speech became more audible.
In the beginning, all the sound material v;as taped
on a Panasonic Auto Stop RQ-409S cassette.
Following a
discussion with the graduate committee on the quality of
narration, it was decided that a male voice might produce
better results.
Consequently, the material was re-taped
using a student who worked in speech and drama at University of California at Los Angeles as the narrator.
The
procedure took about five hours to pull together properly.
However, the sound was still poor.
After consulting
another technician who had access to more sophisticated
sound equipment, the material was re-taped once again,
this time on a Craig 2403-1, reel-to-reel tape recorder.
The sound was far superior and the taping session time
was reduced to two hours.
Another consideration was the number of slides
needed to make the audio material interesting, wellcoordinated and with a smoothness of transition.
At the
8
suggestion of the graduate advisor, Dr.
Kasz~,
the writer
arranged to have Mr. Rex Malcom, Director of New Product
Development at BFA:Educational Media (2211 Michigan, Santa
Monica), see my material.
Since educational art films and
slide kits are his field, he made several suggestions
about timing that were quite helpful.
By the time most of the problems involved seemed
to be solved, the assembled project consisted of a slide
kit of seventy-seven slides accompanied by a tape one-half
hour in 1ength.
IV.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In summary, the most difficult task was to find
material for the slides that would best illustrate specific ideas and still be visually excellent.
Very often
it was possible to find a good example of an artist's
creative work but not in color.
Many times the picture
needed appeared in a double-page spread in a book.
When
photographed as a slide, often the crease of the bookbinding would show and somewhat spoil the effect of the work
shown.
In order to improve some of the slide material it
would be necessary to go to Europe and to some eastern
United States museums and photograph their collections
an idea that is very appealing but one that would be
diff~
cult to implement.
In order to overcome some of the problems with
9
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taping the material, more understanding of the different
types of equipment available and their use is necessary.
There seems to be no one place where this information can
be acquired.
It is only through trial and error and con-
sulting with others who have used various kinds of sound
equipment that one begins to learn more about the possibilities.
Cassettes are handy but their sound reproduc-
tion was inadequate to the needs of the project.
It seems as though the assembled visual and audio
material has not been compiled in this specific form by
anyone to this date.
Along with giving the student an
I
!
understanding of the forces and ideas that caused signifi-:
cant changes in one art area, it could appear that the
i
project itself has an additional value that was not anticipated when the project was first initiated.
It has
shown the writer how the serious artist can derive his
creative inspiration from many different sources.
He
then applies his talent to produce a work that is completely his
own~
and throughout the process, discovers
new directions in his particular method of
ideas within his work.
~ombining
new
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
1.
Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental
Ceramic Society. The Ceramic Art of China. London:
Victoria and Albert Museum, 1971.
2.
Arts Yearbook 8. Contemporary Sculpture.
Art Digest, Inc., 1965.
3.
Asian Society, Inc. The Art of the Korean Potter.
Honolulu: Asia House Gallery Publication, 1968.
4.
Beard, Geoffrey. Modern Ceramics.
Vista Limited, 1969.
5.
de la Souchere, Dor. Picasso in Antibes.
Pantheon Books, 1960.
6.
Honey, William Bowler. The Ceramic Art of China and
Other Countries of the Far East. New York: The
Beechhurst Press, 1954.
7.
Hughes, Serge, translator. Picasso at Vallauris.
New York: Reynal and Co., 1959.
·
8.
Kahnweiler, Daniel-Henry.
Cosmopress, 1970.
9.
Koya~a, Fujio and Figgess, John.
of Oriental Ceramics. New York:
Inc., 1960.
New York:
London:
Studio
New York:
Picasso-Keramic.
Hamburg:
Two Thousand Years
Harry N. Abrams,
10.
Leach, Bernard. Bernard Leach: A Potter's Work.
Palo Alto: Kodansha International, 1967.
11.
Leach, Bernard. A Potter's Book.
and Farber, 1940.
12.
Leach, Bernard. A Potter's Portfolio: A Selection
of Fine Pots. London: Lund Humphries and Co. Ltd.,
1 9 51 .
13.
Miller, Roy Andrew. ~anese Ceramics.
Crown Publishers, Inc., 1962.
London:
Farber
New York:
ll
---- ------ ------·--· --·-------·------------------ ·-- "j
!
BOOKS continued
14.
Munsterberg, Hugo. The Ceramic Art of Japan.
Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1964.
15.
Nordness, Lee.
Press, 1970.
16.
Penrose, Roland.
Inc., 1969.
17.
Ramie, Georges and Susanne. Ceramics by Picasso.
New York: Skira, Inc., 1955.
18.
Read, Herbert. Wotruba. New York:
Gerson Gallery, Inc., 1964.
19.
Riegger, Hal. Raku: Art and Technique.
Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1970.
20.
Rubin, William. Picasso.
Modern Art, 1972.
21.
Soby, James Thrall. Joan Mi ro.
of Modern Art, 1959.
22.
Sweeney, James Johnson. The Mira Atmosphere.
Barcelona: Editorial RM., 1959.
23.
Thiel, Albert William Rudolph. Chinese Pottery and
Stoneware. Los Angeles: Bardon Publishing Co.,
Objects:
Mira.
USA.
New York:
New York:
New York:
Viking
Harry N. Abrams,
MarlboroughNew York:
Museum of
Ne\'i York:
Museum
195:r:-24.
Wildenhain, Marguerite. Pottery: Form and
Expression. New York: Reinhold Publishing Co.,
1962.
25.
Zervos, Christian, de la Souchere, R., Sabartes,
Jaime. Cahiers d'Art. Paris: Jourde et Allard,
1948.
ARTICLES
26.
Arneson, Robert. 11 Picasso, the Craftsman, .. Craft
Horizons, XXVII, No. 6 (November-December, 1967),
29-33.
27.
Ashton, Dare. 11 Exhibitions, 11 Craft Horizons,
No.2 (March-April, 1960), 42.
XX,
12
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.... ·------------------·--------·------------------·------·-,
I
;
I
ARTICLES continued
I 28.
Ashton, Dare. "Miro/Artigas," Craft Horizons,
XVII, No. 1 (February, 1957), 17-20.
I
I
29.
Brown, Conrad. "Peter Voulkos," Craft Horizons,
XVI, No. 5 (October, 1956), 12-18.
30.
Byer, Dorothy. 11 Exhibitions, 11 Craft Horizons,
XXI, No. 5 (September-October, 1961), 38.
31.
Coplans, John. "Circle of Styles on the West Coast, 11
Art in America, LII, No. 3 (June, 1964), 24-41.
32.
Coplans, John. 11 Los Angeles: The Scene,"
LXIV, No. 1 (March, 1965), 57.
33.
Coplans, John. "Out of Clay,"
No. 6 (December, 1963), 40.
34.
Coplans, John. 11 Sculpture in California,"
II, No. 2 (August, 1963), 3-6.
35.
Coplans, John. "Voulkos: Redemption through
Cerami c s , 11 Art News , LX I V, No . 4 ( Summer , 1 9 6 5 ) ,
38-39.
-----
36.
Giambrum, Helen. 11 Exhibitions," Craft Horizons,
XXVII, No. 1 (January-February, 1967), 38-40.
37.
Goodall, Don. "Exhibitions," Craft Horizons,
No. 5 (September-October, 1959), 41.
38.
Krevitsky, Nick. 11 Letter from Los Angeles," Craft
Horizons, XXI, No. 6 (November-December, 1961), 43.
39.
Langsner, Jules. "Art Now From Los Angeles,"
Art N;~ws, LX, No. 4 (Summer, 1961), 66.
40.
Laporte, Pau1. "Letter from Los Angeles,"
Ho_rizons, XX, No. 4 (July, 1960), 43.
41.
Laporte, Paul. ;'Letter from Los Angeles, 11 Craft
Horizons, XXII, No. 1 (January-February, 1962), 43.
42.
Laporte, Paul. 11 John Mason: Ceramic Sculptor,"
Artforum, I, No. 8 (February, 1963), 34-35.
43.
Livingston, Jane. "Two Generations in Los Angeles,"
Art in Am e r i c a , LV I I , No . 1 (January-February, 1 9 6 9) ,
92-97.
Art News,
Art in America,
LI,
Artforum,
XIX,
Craft
13
ARTICLES continued
44.
Lovoos, Janice.
"California Ceramics," American
Artist, XXXII, No. 5 {May, 1968), 46-53.
45.
Magloof, Joanna C.
"Art Unlimited, 1'
No. 8 (February, 1964), 45.
Artforum,
II,
46.
11
Magloof, Joanna C.
Peter Voulkos, 11
No. 2 (August, 1963), 29.
Artforum,
II,
47.
11
Nordland, Gerald.
John Mason, 11 Craft Horizons,
XX, No. 3 {May-June, 1960), 29-33.
48.
11
Parks, Dennis.
Pau1 Soldner," Craft Horizons,
XXVI, No. 1 {January-February, 1966), 21.
49.
11
Perkins, Constance.
John Mason, 11
No. 12 (June, 1963), 14-15.
50.
11
Peterson, Richard.
Ca1ifornia, a Climate for Craft
Art, 11 Craft Horizons, XVI, No. 5 (October, 1956),
11.
51.
Peterson, Richard.
"Ceramic Textures," Craft
Horizons, XVI, No. 2 {March-April, 1956), 27.
52.
11
Pyron, Bernard.
The Tao and Dada of Recent
American Ceramic Art, 11 Artforum, II, No. 9 (March,
1964), 41-42.
53.
11
Rhodes, Daniel.
Reflections on the Syracuse
11
National ,
Craft Horizons, XVII, No. 2 (MarchApril, 1957), 39-40.
' 54.
55 •
Artforum,
Rothman, Jerry.
"New Age of Experiment,"
Monthly, VI, No. 2 (February, 1958), 25.
Sc h 1 a n g e r , J e f f .
11
Ma i j a Gr· o t e 11 , "
I,
Ceramics
Cr a f t Ho r i z o n s ,
XXIX, No. 6 (November-December, 1969.), 14-23.
56.
11
Secunda, Arthur.
Exhibitions, 11 Craft Horizons,
XXV, No. 4 (July-August, 1965), 35-36.
57.
Simmons, Robert Hilton.
"Objects: USA; The Johnson
Collection of Contemporary Crafts," Craft Horizons,
XXIX, No. 6 (November-December, 1969), 25-51, 66.
58.
11
Slivka, Rose.
The New Ceramic Presence, 11 Craft
Ho r i z o n ~ , XXI, No . 4 ( J u 1y - Au g u s t , l 9 6 1 ) , 31 - 3 7-.
14
ARTICLES continued
59.
Smith, Vic. "Arts of Southern California XII,"
Artforum, I, No. 7 (January, 1963), 9.
60.
Soldner, Paul. "Ceramics, West Coast,
Craft
Horizons, XXVI, No. 3 (June, 1966), 25-28.
61.
Thompson, David.
London Commentary,
International, CLXXV, No. 899 (April,
11
11
11
Studio
196~200.
CATALOGUES:
62.
American Sculpture of the Sixties. Los Angeles:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967.
63.
Casson, Michael. Pottery in Britain Today.
Alec Tiranti, 1967.
64.
Clay Today.
1963.
65.
Coplans, John. Abstract Expressionist Ceramics.
Irvine: University of California, 1966.
66.
Leider, Philip. Robert Irwin, Kenneth Price.
Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1966.
67.
Pottery of Marguerite Wildenhain. Raleigh: North
Carolina Museum of Art, February 11 - March 3, 1968.
68.
The Sculpture of John Mason. Los Angeles: Los
Angeles County Museum of Art, November 16, 1966 February 1, 1967.
69.
Peter Voulkos. Los Angeles:
Museum of Art, 1965.
Iowa City:
London:
State University of Iowa,
Los Angeles County
REFERENCE BOOKS
70.
Art Index.
New York:
H. W. Wilson Co., 1929.
APPENDIX A
DIRECTIONS FOR SLIDE-TAPE PLAYBACK
The slides are encased in three slide cube cartridges, each containing twenty-six or twenty-seven
numbered slides.
The black cover on the cartridge slides toward
the rear and drops, for easy access to the slides.
Each cartridge is marked so that you proceed from
Box 1 to Box 2 to Box 3, viewing
sgy_~f)ty-seven
slides in
a 11.
The first slide should be in place and focused
before beginning the tape.
The tape begins with a tone for this first slide.
The second tone indicates that the second slide should be
viewed -- and so on to the end of the tape.
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I
APPENDIX B
!
CREDITS
Photography:
Audio-Visual Center, CSUN
David Stuart Gallery (Peter Voulkos)
Mizuno Gallery (Ken Price)
Ellen Silk, photographer
Narrator:
Sound
Technician:
Jeffrey Louis Levin, Speech-Drama, UCLA
Daniel Smith, Science, CSUN
Don Zimring, Radio, UCLA
Private
Collections:
Fred Marer
John Mason
1 fi
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ADDENDUM
LOCATION OF THE PROJECT
The slide-tape unit of my graduate project is
with the archival copy of the project in the library of
California State University, Northridge.