“In the Studio: Craft in Postwar America, 1950–1970” at the MFAH
Olaf Skoogfors, Brooch, 1967–68, gold-plated sterling silver and pearl, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Marciarose and Jerome Shestack in memory of Maurice English and in honor of the Helen Williams Drutt Collection. © Judith Skoogfors-Prip
Peter Voulkos, Vase, 1952–53, stoneware, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Leatrice S. and Melvin B. Eagle Collection, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Voulkos Family Trust
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S. 562, Double Cone Form with Central Sphere), c. 1954, galvanized steel wire and brass wire, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Ruth Asawa
Title
In the Studio: Craft in Postwar America, 1950–1970 at the MFAH
Dates
May 18–October 8, 2017
Overview
Featuring nearly 40 objects made from clay, wood, fiber, and metal, In the Studio: Craft in Postwar America, 1950–1970 showcases artworks from the field of American craft. Artists working at this time entered an intense period of experimentation, backed by the rise of support systems such as membership groups, exhibitions, and publications. Their focus shifted to making objects by hand in the studio rather than working with industry resulting in the birth of a new field of studio craft that embraced both functional and sculptural forms.
In the Studio showcases the early decades of the field during which artists championed a revival of traditional skills and which produced distinctive regional centers of craft in California, Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina, each with its own aesthetics, techniques, and stylistic identity. Providing a snapshot of craft across America, the objects on view are made by many of the masters who established new aesthetics and modes of making in their respective mediums. Complementing the works is a selection of ephemera and catalogs from the Hirsch Library emphasizing the professionalization of the field.
The exhibition, which is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is on view from May 18, to October 8, 2017.
Location
Alice Pratt Brown Gallery / Caroline Wiess Law Building
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1001 Bissonnet Street
Organization And Funding
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Generous funding is provided by:
Media Contact
Sarah Hobson, associate publicist
713.800.5345 / shobson@mfah.org