Rudy Autio is considered one of the most important and influential ceramic artists working in the United States in the last fifty years. With works in the permanent collections of museums around the world including the American Craft Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Carnegie Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Applied Arts Museum in Helsinki, the National Museum in Stockholm, and the Aichi and Shigaraki ceramic museums in Japan, Rudy Autio has left an indelible mark on the world with his art.

In addition to the physical displays of Autio’s art, his influence can be found in many other areas. In 1951, he co-founded the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana with fellow artist and friend, Peter Voulkos. In 1957, Autio founded the Ceramics Department at the University of Montana in Missoula and began a nearly 30-year long teaching career at the school. In addition to his teaching, he has given lectures and conducted more than 100 workshops in the United States and other countries.

This exciting new book - the first to be written on Autio - is a history and celebration of his life and work, and is supported by a stunning gallery of more than 150 color images.

By documenting Rudy Autio’s life and work, this book explores the role ceramic artists play in contemporary American culture, how one becomes a ceramic artist, how ceramic artists make their work, how technology has changed their medium - and most importantly - why these artists do this work at all.