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MARGUERITE WILDENHAIN
BIOGRAPHICAL TIMELINES
Bauhaus-trained master potter, Marguerite Wildenhain (1896-1985), was a remarkable and tenacious world-renown ceramic artist and teacher. Few have equaled Wildenhain's skill and reputation as a potter and teacher. Through her famous summer school in northern California, known as Pond Farm, Wildenhain firmly established standards for her students as she demonstrated her philosophy about the integration of life and work, honest expression and integrity of form. Wildenhain taught professional potters and countless college level ceramics professors and high school teachers, therefore her influence did not stop with her immediate students. Second, third and fourth generations of students are still being inspired by her methods and philosophy. These students claim to still hear her "tutoring" them to ground their lives in their craft and their craft in their lives.
Wildenhain had a powerful presence in mid-century ceramics in the United States, richly influencing ceramic form, techniques and ceramic education. Though she holds a unique place in history, the importance of her influence has been neglected, consequently her once influential role has been cast aside. Dr. Sessions' curatorial objective is to reinvigorate her continued presence in classrooms, studios, and aesthetics as witnessed in the lives and work of her students. The purpose of this exhibit is to reestablish the contributions of her as both an artist and teacher, and to investigate the "ripples" that Wildenhain initiated. Sessions states that, "Wildenhain had an intense relationship with her craft, an extreme clarity about life, a critical eye regarding form, and a deep and abiding relationship with her students. This show is tangible evidence of this tenet and provides affirmation of her lasting imprint on the ceramic world and her students."
This exhibition features a selection demonstrating the most important aspects of her production done at Pond Farm from the 1950s to her last firing in 1980. The Wildenhain artworks exhibited represent a deep and broad range, including seemingly humble and modest vessels, contrasted with elaborate figurative incised narratives, and pierced, relief tiles. There are fundamental forms, mostly utilitarian, that display designs and textures based on the natural environment. Her palette is earthy, and the background of the objects is often brown or rust; contrasting imagery is often black or beige. They feature either immaculate geometric designs or her celebrated organic abstractions based on patterns from natural objects, such as leaves and flowers that she picked up on her daily walks.
Objects designed with incised lines and colored patterns were a consistent part of her production beginning in the 1950s. Later, she made narrative pieces that include people, situations and experiences encountered at home and while traveling. Figures and textures emerge in blue, green, black, tan and sometimes orange. Because they are less well known, a special aspect of this exhibit is the Wildenhain tile collection-both solid (incised flat and relief) and pierced. The technical cogency of the broad planes of clay is a marvel and a testimony to her skill because tiles are notoriously hard to make successfully. The large narrative tiles are powerful examples of Wildenhain's ability to blend fabrication, design and message. Along with her flat tiles, unparalleled as successful engineering are Wildenhain's pierced and/or pieced tiles that usually feature figures in relief.
Wildenhain was not concerned with how critics felt about her work or how she fit into the grand scheme of things. She trusted that her ability with the material and forms would endure over time. She had to struggle to achieve her vision and she took great personal satisfaction in the effort, overcoming difficult situations time and time again, all the while becoming convinced of her purpose. The thousands of vessels Marguerite Wildenhain made at Pond Farm contain her soul, her aesthetic vision, her work ethic, her Bauhaus roots, and embody the core of her philosophy of life and teaching. Her teaching and example represent the integrity of a craftsman, the discipline of work and the mental exercise of creativity.
This exhibition provides a platform to review and reflect on the perpetual influence that a superb teacher can have on their students. These students have come together to illustrate the place that Wildenhain's pedagogy occupies in their lives as teachers and artists. Her impact can be readily seen in the technical ability shown in her students' work; it is demonstrated in their level of craftsmanship; and it can be heard in all of their personal comments. Her studio work and her students have influenced the world of ceramics education for more than 50 years, and her methodology and philosophy live on in the Pond Farmers. If Wildenhain hoped that her philosophy of life and teaching would endure over time in the hearts and skills of her students, that wish has come true.
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| Intro |
| Marguerite Wildenhain |
| The Pond Farm Experience |
| The Pond Farmers |
