Current Exhibitions 2010
The Influence of a Teacher
Four Artists who Studied with Toshiko Takaezu
Bill Baumbach, Don Fletcher, Dan Massad & John Mosler
December 6, 2009 - March 21, 2010
Learn more about this exhibition
The Influence of a Teacher
Four Artists who Studied with Toshiko Takaezu
Bill Baumbach, Don Fletcher, Dan Massad, & John Mosler
Bill Baumbach, La Cape, 2008, stoneware, 53 x 15 x 14 in.
The Influence of a Teacher: Four Artists who Studied with Toshiko Takaezu includes work from four of Toshiko Takaezu's former Princeton University students, Bill Baumbach, Don Fletcher, Dan Massad, and John Mosler. In the decades since they graduated from Princeton, all four have remained close to Toshiko and have made art at her home and her studio in Quakertown, New Jersey. As curator, Toshiko Takaezu selected the work for this exhibition.
Bill Baumbach is a sculptor who creates totemic forms. His glazes wash over each piece and produce veiled layers that bring to mind landscapes and Abstract Expressionism. Don Fletcher's sculptures recall Neolithic monuments. His vertical and disc-shaped clay forms with earth-colored glazes have surfaces that are notched or marked, perhaps suggesting objects or rituals from some distant time. Dan Massad works in pastel. His meticulously detailed drawings have sometimes focused on Toshiko's bowls, her front steps or garden. John Mosler's interest in the human figure is the starting point for sculptures that capture movement in their curved planes. While these sculptures stand alone, he views them as maquettes for large-scale pieces.
As one of the most influential ceramic artists of the twentieth century, Toshiko Takaezu has many legacies. Her signature work, the closed form, brought ceramics from the world of utilitarian vessels into the realm of sculpture. Her art is in the collections of major museums, and on any given day, visitors to museums throughout the world, have the good fortune of seeing her beautifully glazed ceramic work. She has exhibited widely, has been the subject of numerous solo shows, and has received honors that include the Gold Medal Award from the American Craft Council and honorary doctorates from universities, including Princeton. This exhibition; however, gives the viewer a glimpse of a more private legacy, the legacy of a teacher.
John Mosler, Oya, 2009, stoneware, 36 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.
Don Fletcher, Untitled, 2009, stoneware, 14 x 14 x 6 in.
Dan Massad, Study for Leal Souvenir, 2001, pastel on paper, 14 1/4 x 13 1/4 in.
