A LOOK AT "THE MASTER IN THE REDWOODS" -- A GERMAN-AMERICAN MASTER POTTER AND HER WORKS.
PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on Marguerite Wildenhain (born Marguerite Friedlaender), (October 11, 1896 – February 24, 1985), an American Bauhaus-trained ceramic artist, educator and author, photographed at Pond Farm, Sonoma County, CA, c. early 1950s. Plus assorted pottery works by the late, great Marguerite herself.
OVERVIEW: "Another potter whose career exemplifies the international nature of studio pottery is Marguerite Wildenhain (1896 – 1985). She was born in France, to a British mother and a German Jewish father. At age 18, she started work in a porcelain factory, and fell in love with the wheel. One day in 1919, while riding her bike in the countryside, Marguerite happened upon a poster announcing a new school, to be called the Bauhaus. It would be "a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions which raise an arrogant barrier between craftsmen and artists." At the Bauhaus, Wildenhain worked with some of the greatest designers of the early 20th century; in 1925, she became the first woman honored as a German Master Potter. She went on to teach at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, while also designing commercial ceramics. When the Nazis came into power, Wildenhain and her husband fled to the Netherlands, where they opened a pottery they called shop called Het Kruikje (“The Little Jug”). In 1940 she had to flee the Nazis yet again, this time to emigrating to the United States
PART II: Wildenhain briefly took a position at the California College of Arts and Crafts, then in 1942, relocated to the new Pond Farm artist’s colony in rural Sonoma County. High on a hill above the Russian River, she planted a garden, built a house, and repurposed an old barn into her pottery studio. Over the next 40 years, Wildenhain would create an extraordinary body of work here, while also teaching students from around the world. Her students learned to throw on the physically-demanding kick-wheel, and started by making a dog dish! In between sessions, they discussed philosophy, natural history, and how to run a business; many went on to become important potters in their own right. Now part of the Austin Creek State Recreation Area, Wildenhain’s studio has been designated a "National Treasure" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation."
-- HAND OR EYE, "What is Studio Pottery?," written by Martin Holden
Source: www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/potters-life-marguerite-wildenhain-pond-farm, https://handoreye.com/journal/studiopottery, X, Pinterest, various, etc...
