Betty Woodman (American, 1930-2018). Three Sisters, circa 1980. Glazed ceramic. 13-3/8 x 12-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches (34.0 x 3... (Total: 3 Items)

Description

Betty Woodman (American, 1930-2018)
Three Sisters, circa 1980
Glazed ceramic
13-3/8 x 12-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches (34.0 x 31.1 x 14.0 cm) (tallest)
Stamped WOODMAN (each)

PROVENANCE:
Acquired directly from Betty Woodman by the artist's relative.

Counted among the leading ceramicists of the 20th century, Betty Woodman (American, 1930-2018) began her career producing functional pottery. In 1950, following studies at the School for American Craftsman at Alfred University, she accepted a position as a potter at a manufacturing facility, where she acquired valuable technical knowledge and experience. In the 1970s, Woodman joined the Pattern and Decoration movement, which centered the feminine and the non-Western, revived traditional art forms in response to Minimalism and Conceptualism, and blurred the distinction between art and design. Woodman abandoned her earlier, traditional repertoire in favor of inventive forms and exuberant, painterly glazes. She drew upon myriad and diverse sources - Etruscan, Minoan, Greek, European, and Japanese - within the history of ceramics, as well as contemporary art and design. While many later works no longer served a utilitarian purpose, they nevertheless referred to these traditional sources and hinted at function. "It makes good sense to use clay for pots, vases, pitchers, and platters, but I like to have things both ways," she explained. "I make things that could be functional, but I really want them to be considered works of art." By the 2000s, Woodman supplemented her tabletop production with large-scale mural, floor, and environmental installations for museums and galleries that in many ways embody the fullest expression of her vision.

Betty Woodman's works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others.



More information about Betty Woodman. See also: Woodman, Betty Artist.

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