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Remembrances
Remembrances
Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, since 1982, died on Thursday after a recurrence of cancer. He was 67 years old. Under his direction, the MFAH flourished, adding two new buildings and a sculpture garden designed by Isamu Noguchi, developing a vibrant educational outreach program, and growing its collection from 14,000 to 62,000 works of art. In crafting such robust institutional growth, Marzio accomplished a rare thing: "a fusion of elitism and populism into what we might call the ‘elitist populist' outlook," Laurie Fendrich, professor of fine arts at Hofstra University, writes for the ...
Remembrances
Ardis Butler James, a leading quilt collector and philanthropist, died July 7 at the age of 85 in Stamford, Connecticut.
James had a lifelong love of fabric. Growing up in Omaha, her mother was a quilter, and James was a respected amateur quilter in her own right, too, before collecting became her focus. She even owned a fabric shop in Chappaqua, New York, for nearly a decade.
She and her husband, Robert, were longtime residents of Chappaqua, and among the first collectors to start aquiring contemporary quilts, collecting work by Nancy Crow and Michael James, among other studio art quilters. They were ...
Remembrances
"A thorough knowledge of materials and techniques is a direct measure of artistic freedom," metalsmith Heikki Seppa once wrote. An influential artist and educator whose technical and sculptural innovations opened up a world of expressive possibilities in his medium, Seppa died on May 18, 2010; he was 83.
Born in Finland, Seppa trained at a goldsmithing school in Helsinki and at the famed Georg Jensen silver factory in Copenhagen before emigrating to Canada in 1951. A decade later, determined to master English-language terminology so he could more effectively teach his craft, he furthered his studies at Cranbrook Academy of Art in ...
Remembrances
Groundbreaking ceramic artist Paul Soldner died at the age of 89 on Monday. The internationally recognized pioneer was instrumental in the evolution of ceramic art. Soldner was often referred to as the "father of American raku," and also known for his innovative work with low-temperature salt firing.
Throughout his career he taught at Claremont Graduate University and Scripps College, where he also curated the annual ceramic exhibition. He was a member of the American Craft Council's College of Fellows, which honors remarkable artists who have significantly contributed to their craft for more than 25 years, and in 2008 Soldner was ...
Remembrances
"You do what you can and then it is really up to others to see if there's anything in the work for them, too. You can only deal with your own point of view, but something that touches you deeply is going to touch others too." So said clay sculptor Stephen De Staebler in a 1981 Ceramics Monthly interview. De Staebler, who was known for his grand human forms, died May 13 at age 78.
A Missouri native, De Staebler later lived in Berkeley, California. He taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and San Francisco State University. He was also ...
Remembrances
Toshiko Takaezu, one of the most influential and world-renowned ceramic artists, died last week at the age of 88. Takaezu taught for 25 years at Princeton University, where she was a mentor who shaped the lives of generations of artists. She was known for her round forms, which often incorporated an element of sound.
In an interview with filmmaker D. B. Long, Takaezu said: "I stuck to one shape, more or less. My things are always round and tall, but there's always a closed feeling. There's air trapped in there. But there's also - when they're small - they all have ...
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