Rozenburg Haagsche Plateelbakkerij, The Netherlands (The Hague), 1883-1914. Milk Jug, 1900. Glazed porcelain with enamel. 108 x 40.6 x 33.7 cm. Designmuseum, Danmark, Copenhagen, 793.
One of the best things about the Ceramics Art and Perception assignment this semester is catching up on events in the ceramic community that I missed. One of these that I most enjoyed was the review if the show “Reinventing the Modern World” that was staged by the Nelson Atkins museum in Kansas City in 2012. The show has toured some and so there are other museums that have sites dedicated to the show, but here is the original:
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/exhibitions/WorldsFairs/
The intent of these shows when they were first conceived was to showcase national manufacturing and design in a cooperative environment that allowed the spread of ideas globally. There was also a fair amount for showing off, so the bet artists and craftspeople of a country were invited to participate, making it some of the best of the best work that a period had to offer. The show focus’ on a period in which some ceramic was beginning to be designed for exhibition rather than domestic use, so these works have a very contemporary art piece feel.
Miyagawa Kozan, Japanese, 1842-1916. Vase, ca. 1904. Glazed porcelain. 35.6 x 31.2 cm. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Acquired by Henry Walters, 1904, 49.1912 Walters.
Much like the worlds fairs themselves, the show featured many different arts and crafts objects, such as furniture, glass and metal, but there was also a range of styles and approaches to the ceramic work. This vase seems influenced by Paul Gauguin’s experiments with ceramic. Its form and surface have an incredibly contemporary feel.
Pierre Adrien Dalpayrat, French, 1844-1910. Vase, La Mer, 1898-1900. Glazed stoneware. 40.6 x 36.8 x 40.6 cm. Saint Louis Museum of Art, Richard Brumbaugh Trust in memory of Richard Irving Brumbaugh and Grace Lischer Brumbaugh and funds given by Jason Jacques, 7:2010.
The focus of this show is largely a historical one, what was the world like at the time and how were these Worlds Fairs influential in the making of culture, but I see a deeper significance in restating historical shows. Disparate objects become a single work of art through the process of good curation. How interesting then to consider this historical work restaged in a contemporary setting. Bringing these works together again has the power influence a new generation of artists and thinkers in a way that photos in a book or a single example in a museum just can’t do. At the very least, it reminds us working in the field today of our roots and provides inspiration for new ideas.
Algot Erikson, decorator, Swedish, 1868-1937. Rörstrand Porslins Fabriker, manufacturer, Sweden
(Stockholm), 1726-1964. Vase, 1904. Porcelain. 42.3 x 18.4 cm. Cincinnati Art Museum, Museum Purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. William O. DeWitt, Jr.
Images for this post were taken from this site:
http://arttattler.com/designworldsfairsmodernworld.html