Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, presents the first ever US Survey of the evolution of British studio pottery.The exhibition will feature, on one platform, nearly 150 ceramic objects — vases, bowls, chargers, and monumental forms, as well as a range of historic works from China, Japan, and Korea. The exploration of British studio pottery traces the evolution of the vessel form, the very form that has inspired the definition of the ceramic medium from the dawn of the twentieth century till recent times.The journey reveals the story of studio pottery to be a global one, not defined by the geography or restricted by any specific socio-cultural wave. With the imperial era travels, the art of pottery along with the pots and their potters travelled between England, continental Europe, Asia, Africa, and beyond. The exhibition also will shed light on the fact that studio pottery is an ongoing practice. It will also feature recent works by the contemporary potters created especially for the occasion. But what the exhibition focuses on is the extravagant assortment drawn from distinguished private and public collections in the United States and the United Kingdom.“The antiquity of the vessel, the familiarity of its shapes and forms, provides a ready-made language, which ceramic artists have for decades invoked and emulated but also distanced, transformed, and renewed. This exhibition seeks to shed new light on the development of British art and culture, while placing it in an international context,” says exhibition co-curator Martina Droth, Deputy Director of Research and Curator of Sculpture at the Center.With the advent of late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, the art of pottery travelled with Bernard Leach (1887–1979) who saw himself as a stream between East and West, promoting pottery as a combination of both cultures, as well as a lifestyle that integrated into art, philosophy, design, and craft. Leach has been widely regarded as the “father of British studio pottery,” in large part due to his influence as a writer—A Potter’s Book, which he first published in 1940, has never been out of print.The exhibition considers the influence of the pioneer studio potter Bernard Leach but casts a new light on his role as a collector.In addition, the presentation and its accompanying book include the first public display of photographic portraits of the potters themselves.The Yale Center for British Art is home to the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom housing more than 2,000 paintings, 250 sculptures, 20,000 drawings and watercolors, 40,000 prints, and 35,000 rare books and manuscripts. More than 40,000 volumes supporting research in British art and related fields are available in the Center’s Reference Library.The exhibition will be on view from September 14 through December 3, 2017 at Yale Center for British art, 1080 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510.For details, visit: www.britishart.yale.edu/exhibitions/things-beauty-growing-british-studio-potteryClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the artworks.
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