The
Unexpected
Artists' Ceramics of the 20th Century
September
18, 1999 through November 14, 1999
Dr.
Robert P. Metzger and the Foundation for
the Reading Public Museum are proud to present
the Museum's most ambitious exhibit to date.
Direct from the Kruithuis Museum in the
Netherlands, comes Artists' Ceramics of
the 20th Century. Opened Sept 11, 1999,
this high-profile show is comprised of ceramic
works by the 20th century's greatest artists
like Cocteau and Picasso.
The
history of art teaches us that it was not
unusual in the past for artists to excel
in several disciplines. The phenomenon was
particularly common in the Renaissance.
In subsequent ages the boundaries between
the disciplines became increasingly strict.
By the end of the 19th century, artists
tended to stick to their 'own' discipline.
Ceramic
work enabled these artists and many like
them to add a spatial dimension to their
painterly qualities. They explored the possibility
of combining the sculptural and painterly
potential of the clay. Although the traditional
functionality of ceramic objects was cast
aside, references to the original pot form
appear with surprising frequency. Autonomous
sculptural objects were also created, in
which the characteristic painterly idiom
of the maker remains strikingly visible.
Artists' Ceramics of the 20th Century will
be on exhibit until November 14, 1999.
Robert
P. Metzger, Ph.D.
Director, CEO, Chief Curator Reading Public
Museum
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