Bente Hansen Organic Shaped Vase, 2001

About the Item

Rare and important organic vase by Danish ceramic artist Bente Hansen from 2001 from a batch of 100 pieces this model has number 49 out of 100. This vase is the perfect center piece for any style of interior and fits all style from the typical Scandinavian style of interior to a more modern style of interior to a wabi sabi style of interior. From the earliest youth, Bente Hansen's life and work have contained one obsession: clay, the ceramic form and process of creation. This passion has made her an internationally renowned ceramist whose works are loved by ceramic lovers and collectors of unique items worldwide. Bente Hansen grew up in modest circumstances, as the youngest of two sisters. The father was a trained fine mechanic and worked for the fire service. In the last days of the Occupation, he died in an accident. The mother got work as an office assistant at Gentofte Town Hall and looked after the two daughters until she met engineer Julius Tscherning Jensen in 1950, who became her partner. He added to the home an interest in modern Danish furniture design, music and art, just as he took Bente Hansen to museums, not least on trips to Southern Germany and Austria. During a visit to the maternal grandparents, who lived at the Agricultural College's garden on Frbg. and had a summer house in Avedøre, Bente Hansen's interest in nature and budding life developed. A teacher who was also a painter and sculptor sparked her interest in shaping. From the age of 12-13, she modeled after classic pictures and sculptures and worked with ceramics, where the inspiring role model was Axel Salto. In 1960, Bente Hansen began to study ceramics at the School of Crafts under the demanding leader Richard Kjærgaard, after taking the real exam. He encouraged her, after years of modeling and turning utilitarian objects, especially teapots, to work freely and sculpturally. Together with a friend, she began experimenting with salt glazing, a technique that accentuates the intensity of paint colors, which she would later develop into a refined art. After leaving in 1964, she was employed at Bing & Grøndahl's experimental workshop, where Asger Fischer was artistic consultant. Here the task involved working with personal expression, which Bente Hansen experienced as pressure. When she established her own workshop in 1968, it was thus a relief for her to have her own sanctuary where she could experiment with form and decoration. In 1970, she left Bing & Grøndahl. In the period 1975-79, she worked with organically shaped works with references to natural motifs, e.g. jars with undulating surface and "flying boxes". After a period when a number of large sculptures were burned at Den Kgl. Porcelain factory, she was employed at the factory from 1978-82, which gave her the opportunity to work more sculpturally with wave forms in large formats. In 1984, a turning point came when ceramist Kirsten Christensen stimulated her to let the organic decorations contrast the form. This led her to develop geometric patterns of color surfaces, first symmetrical, then more constructed. In this connection, she developed a special technique for producing color surfaces, during which she uncovered the surfaces with latex and sprayed the colors on in several rounds. In the following 15 years, this technique became Bente Hansen's special medium. In 1985, she received a three-year scholarship from the Norwegian Arts Foundation, which gave her the financial freedom to deepen her work with pattern compositions on very large vase forms. 1991-92 Bente Hansen was professional leader at the Jutland Academy of Art and 1992-96 a teacher at Denmark's Design School. During this period, her expression was simplified to a concentration around the form. The jars became plastic, folded or crooked or designed as poetic landscapes. It was an effort to achieve a tension in the surface that could describe the inner space of the jar. Bente Hansen's preoccupation with form, both functional and free, has been fundamental, which is why the ceramic process as a whole has taken on the greatest importance. The teapot has had a special power of fascination for Bente Hansen, and in 1994 she contributed precisely one teapot to the Lærkestellet. The frame was unique in that it consisted of contributions from nine potters, who each in their own workshops designed works for the common frame. In 1998, Bente Hansen held the solo exhibition The-tid in Galleri Nørby. Here you could experience her Barselspotte, which dates back to her student days, Oval Cradle, which was born from a cradle-shaped jar type 1988-92, as well as the works Hen, Egg, Duck and Parrot. In 1985, Bente Hansen co-founded the exhibition group Keramiske Veje, and in 1999 she became a member of the association Corner. She has participated in many Danish and international exhibitions, and in 1988 she was admitted to the Académie International de la Céramique, from 1994 as a board member, which has led to many trips to symposia and seminars all over the globe. She has held many positions and positions of trust, including 1994-98 she was a censor at the famous Glasgow School of Art, 1991-97 a member of Danmarks Nationalbank's Jubilee Fund grant committee and since 1999 of the Statens Kunstfond. She has received several awards and scholarships, including Danish Handicrafts Annual Award 1990 and the Bindesbøll Medal 1997. Her works are found in many public collections.

Creator:

Bente Hansen (Artist)

Dimensions:

Height: 9.85 in (25 cm)Width: 9.06 in (23 cm)Depth: 6.5 in (16.5 cm)

Style:

Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Ceramic,Glazed

Place of Origin:

Denmark

Period:

2000-2009