By Karen Karnes
Located in Southampton, NJ
A truly monumental c1990 stoneware boulder-form vase by master potter Karen Karnes. What makes this unique pot stand out is its sheer size and stunning violet glaze. Later in life Karnes returned to the more biomorphic forms she explored earlier in her career in the late 1940s-early 1950s of which this is an exceptional example.
Bio. from wikipedia.
Karen Karnes (November 17, 1925 – July 12, 2016) was an American ceramist, best known for her salt glazed, earth-toned stoneware ceramics.
Early life
Karnes was born on November 17, 1925 in New York City,[2] where she attended art schools for children. Her garment worker parents were Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants, and the family lived in the Bronx Coops.
Karnes applied for and was accepted to the High School of Music & Art. As a child she was surrounded by urban realities and visual influences, but she claims that her parents' old-world ideals kept her grounded. At Brooklyn College she majored in design and graduated in 1946. After graduating, she studied abroad in Italy, where she continued to study ceramics.
After returning from Italy, Karnes began a graduate program at Alfred University, but left before completing her degree to work at Black Mountain College.
Black Mountain College
Karnes first encountered Black Mountain College in 1947, where she took a summer design class with Josef Albers.
In 1952, she and her husband David Weinrib (whom she later divorced) moved down to North Carolina to become potters-in-residence at the Black Mountain College. While at Black Mountain College, Karnes and Weinrib became acquainted with Merce Cunningham and John Cage, and later lived with them at the Gate Hill Community.
During the Pottery Seminar held at the College in 1952, Karnes met international potters Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, and Marguerite Wildenhain, as well as Karl Martz...
Category
1990s American Organic Modern Clay Decorative Objects
MaterialsClay, Pottery, Stoneware, Terracotta
