Circular Platter in Blue ca 1970-80 Glazed Stoneware; ht. 3, dia. 19.5 in. Signed Green on base. Green was born in 1914 into a working class family. Driven by a fierce work ethic he was able to enter the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16 on a full scholarship for both his academic and athletic achievements. He was a champion middle distance runner throughout college. He studied painting at the Art Students League in New York City. But in 1946 a chance encounter, a rare one at that time, saw a display of contemporary Japanese pottery by the Mingei master Shoji Hamada that changed his life. On the spot he decided to switch from painter to potter. Green did not go to any ceramic schools such as Alfred University but learned pottery techniques through the rather daunting, method of ceramic engineering manuals and his knowledge of college chemistry taught himself glaze technology. Then he merged this with his painting skills and produced a translation of Japanese style pottery decoration that was thoroughly Western and unique within this widespread Japonisme treatment in America. This use of color was striking and bold and felt connected to mid-century modernism just as it was breaking through into American culture, with geometric panels of bright color and powerful slip drawing. Whereas the Mingei style presented reticence, Green delivered bravado. Now that mid-century is so significant, collected as style artifacts and design trophies, and also influencing the new, Green’s pottery is finding a new life and appreciation for its zest, adventurous color and complex compositions all anchored in sturdy, handsome vessel forms. Green had numerous awards for his art from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and National Museum of Design in New York and was made a Fellow of the American Craft Council. He is in the collection of the Chicago Art Institute; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Provenance: Directly from the Family of the Artist
Circular Platter in Blue ca 1970-80 Glazed Stoneware; ht. 3, dia. 19.5 in. Signed Green on base. Green was born in 1914 into a working class family. Driven by a fierce work ethic he was able to enter the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 16 on a full scholarship for both his academic and athletic achievements. He was a champion middle distance runner throughout college. He studied painting at the Art Students League in New York City. But in 1946 a chance encounter, a rare one at that time, saw a display of contemporary Japanese pottery by the Mingei master Shoji Hamada that changed his life. On the spot he decided to switch from painter to potter. Green did not go to any ceramic schools such as Alfred University but learned pottery techniques through the rather daunting, method of ceramic engineering manuals and his knowledge of college chemistry taught himself glaze technology. Then he merged this with his painting skills and produced a translation of Japanese style pottery decoration that was thoroughly Western and unique within this widespread Japonisme treatment in America. This use of color was striking and bold and felt connected to mid-century modernism just as it was breaking through into American culture, with geometric panels of bright color and powerful slip drawing. Whereas the Mingei style presented reticence, Green delivered bravado. Now that mid-century is so significant, collected as style artifacts and design trophies, and also influencing the new, Green’s pottery is finding a new life and appreciation for its zest, adventurous color and complex compositions all anchored in sturdy, handsome vessel forms. Green had numerous awards for his art from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and National Museum of Design in New York and was made a Fellow of the American Craft Council. He is in the collection of the Chicago Art Institute; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Provenance: Directly from the Family of the Artist
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
