Book Description
2002
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.