Form & Fire: The E. John Bullard Collection of American Studio Ceramics
This brief sample photographs is selected from a large collection of images made in 2021 for Louisiana State University Museum of Art’s catalog published in connection with the exhibition at the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge, LA, in addition to inclusion in the museum’s digital archive of historic ceramic works. Exhibition Catalog ISBN: 978-0-9763771-4-6 / Featured in the October 2021 issue of Ceramics Monthly
About the Exhibition:
“LSU Museum of Art (LSU MOA) in Baton Rouge, LA is pleased to open on July 8, 2021, Form & Fire: American Studio Ceramics from the E. John Bullard Collection, an exhibition featuring a group of over 100 American studio ceramic works on long-term loan and are a promised gift by bequest to the LSU Museum of Art from E. John Bullard. This collection will be studied over time by the public and students in support of LSU's top-ten ranked ceramics program. This collection comprises artworks by 69 artists, including important figures in ceramics history such as Andrea and John Gill, Vivika and Otto Heino, Ken Ferguson, Wayne Higby, Roberto Lugo, Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Don Reitz, Daniel Rhodes, Richard Shaw, Charles Smith, Paul Soldner, Akio Takamori, Robert Turner, Peter Voulkos, Kurt Weiser, Marguerite Wildenhain, and more.
Most of these works are functional wares whose design, surfaces, and glazing activate our senses; the sculptural and visual/tactile experience is heightened through the hands of these master artists. The materials and techniques are unique in each work, while also acting in dialogue with history and each other. Ceramic art was reconsidered and recognized for artistic and historic achievement in 20th-century America. These artists' aesthetic achievements rival the achievements of any other artistic medium.
In some cases, this collection contains multiple works by individual artists, showing a range of forms, styles, and glazing techniques. These works are important in the broad context of modern and contemporary art history. This collection will add significant depth to our ceramic holdings; the addition of these works expands the collection beyond the Newcomb collection, further into studio ceramics of the 20th century with important developments in scale and style. They join other works in the collection including ones by Walter Anderson, Piero Fenci, Sin-Ying Ho, Pres Kors, Shadow May, Robert Milnes, George Ohr, W. Steve Rucker, Sharon Smith, Akio Takamori, and Michaelene Walsh.
LSU MOA encourages you to contemplate these works in the broad context of modern and contemporary art history. The clay of the earth has been formed and fired and the magic of the kiln is evidenced within each work. This exhibition is curated by Daniel E. Stetson, Executive Director of the LSU Museum of Art. LSU MOA thanks the following sponsors for making this exhibition and catalogue possible: Partner Sponsors Catherine Burns Tremaine and Becky and Warren Gottsegen; Supporters Debbie de La Houssaye and Lake Douglas and Jacki and Brian Schneider (as of June 2021).
ABOUT THE COLLECTOR E. John Bullard is Director Emeritus of the New Orleans Museum of Art. His distinguished career as Director and CEO at NOMA spanned 37 years. In retirement his artistic love has manifested in an abiding interest in ceramics and in a short seven years his collection has grown to around 1,000 objects.”
(LSU Museum of Art, 2021)