Peter Voulkos

Peter Voulkos
John Balistreri (right) assisting Peter Voulkos (left)
Born	Panagiotis Voulkos (1924-01-29)January 29, 1924 Bozeman, Montana
Died	February 16, 2002(2002-02-16) (aged 78)
Nationality	American
Education	Montana State University, California College of the Arts
Known for	Ceramic art, Sculpture
Movement	Abstract Expressionist

Peter Voulkos, Noodle. stoneware sculpture, 1996, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Peter Voulkos (popular name of Panagiotis Voulkos; 1924–2002), was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art.

Biography

Born as Panagiotis Harry Voulkos, the third of five children to Greek immigrant parents Aristovoulos I. Voulkopoulos, anglicized and shortened to Harry (Aris) John Voulkos and Effrosyni (Efrosine) Peter Voulalas, in Bozeman, Montana. He first studied painting and ceramics at Montana State University (then Montana State College) in Bozeman, then earned a MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware in Bozeman, Montana. In 1953, Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1954, after founding the art ceramics department at the Otis College of Art and Design, called the Los Angeles County Art Institute, his work rapidly became abstract and sculptural. He moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he also founded the art ceramics department, and where he taught from 1959 until 1985. Among his students were many ceramic artists who became well known in their own right.

In 1951 Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio became the Archie Bray Foundation's first resident artists. Frances Senska taught both of them. It was during his time there (Resident Director 1951-54) that the lineage of the work that was later in full bloom while working at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, California (USA) could be easily traced.

Death

He died of a heart attack by on February 16, 2002 after conducting a college ceramics workshop at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, demonstrating his skill to a live audience. He was 78.

Personal life

Voulkos is survived by his first wife, Margaret Cone, and their daughter, Pier; his wife, Ann, and their son, Aris; and his brother and two sisters.

Legacy

Voulkos' sculptures are known for their visual weight, their freely-formed construction and their aggressive and energetic decoration. During shaping article he would vigorously tear, pound, and gouge their surfaces. At some points in his career, he cast his sculptures in bronze; in other periods his ceramic works were glazed or painted and he finished them with painted brushstrokes. In 1979 he was introduced to the use of wood kilns by Peter Callas; much of his late work is wood-fired. Peter Voulkos loved working with an audience.

Voulkos' work is found in museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, in New York; Charles Cowles Gallery in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC; the Stedelijk Museums in Amsterdam and Eindhoven; the Tokyo Folk Art Museum and the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art; the National Gallery, in Melbourne; the University of Iowa Museum of Art; the Oakland Museum of California; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London.

See also

• American craft
• Ceramics (art)
• Studio pottery
• Paul Soldner

Sources

• Smith, Roberta. Peter Voulkos, 78, A Master of Expressive Ceramics, Dies, New York Times, Feb. 21, 2002, p. B9.
• Biography.com Peter Voulkos Biography (1924–2002) (Retrieved 2006-10-30)
• artnet.com (2006) Peter Voulkos: Chronology, artnet Worldwide Corporation, New York, NY (Retrieved 2006-10-30)
• Peter Selz (June 2002) In Memoriam, California Alumni Association, Berkeley (Retrieved 2006-10-30)
• Scott Savitt (Feb. 2002) Obituary, The Berkeleyan Online, UC Berkeley’s Office of Public Affairs, The Regents of the University of California (Retrieved 2006-10-30)

Further reading

• Rhodes, Daniel (1959) Stoneware and Porcelain: The Art of High-Fired Pottery Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company, Pennsylvania, 1959.
• Coplans, John (1966) Abstract Expressionist Ceramics (exhibition catalogue), University of California, Irvine, 1966.
• Read, Herbert (1964) A Concise History of Modern Sculpture New York: Oxford University Press, New York, 1964.
• Beard, Geoffrey (1969) Modern Ceramics London: Studio Vista, United Kingdom, 1969.
• Fischer, Hal (1978) "The Art of Peter Voulkos", ARTFORUM, November 1978, pp. 41 – 47.
• Slivka, Rose (1978) Peter Voulkos: A Dialogue with Clay New York Graphic Society in association with American Crafts Council, New York 1978.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1978) Peter Voulkos: A Retrospective 1948-1978 San Francisco, California, 1978.
• Preaud, Tamara and Serge Gauthier (1982) Ceramics of the 20th Century New York:Rizzoli International, New York. 1982.
• MacNaughton, Mary et al. (1994) Revolution in Clay: The Marer Collection of Contemporary Ceramics, Scripps College, Claremont, California, in association with The University of Washington, Seattle, 1994.
• Slivka, Rose and Karen Tsujimoto (1995) The Art of Peter Voulkos, Kodansha International in collaboration with The Oakland Museum, Oakland, California, 1995.
• Danto, Arthur Coleman and Janet Koplos Choice from America: Modern American Ceramics Het Kruithuis, Museum of Contemporary Art. 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, pp. 9–12, 16-9, 104-7, 133. 1999.
• The American Art Book London:Phaidon Press Limited, p. 467, 1999.
• Cooper, Emmanuel (2000) Ten Thousand Years of Pottery, 4th ed., Philadelphia-Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
• Faberman, Hilarie, et al. (2004 )Picasso to Thiebaud: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collections of Stanford University Alumni and Friends, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University. Palo Alto, California. 2004.

External links

• Voulkos & Co. web site
• Frank Lloyd Gallery web site with images of Voulkos artworks, résumé, etc.
• In Memoriam of Peter Voulkos University of California, Berkeley.