Contents

rrejace V List of Illustrations viii Chronology xiii Introduction 1

1 The Montana Years 7 2 Los Angeles: The Clay Revolution 21 3 Berkeley and Bronze 53 4 The Demonstration 75 5 Non-Technique Technique: The Way of Work 99

A Taped Conversation 127 Excerpt from "The New Ceramic Presence" 137 Selected Bibliography 139

PETER VOULKOS

vn List of Illustrations

Illustrations in Black and White

figure page 1 Voulkos at a demonstration, 1976 ii 2 Vase, 1977 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Nadel) 1 3 Covered jar, 1953 (Collection of Museum of Contem- porary Crafts, New York) 7 4 Bottle, 1953 (Collection of Prieto Gallery, Mills College) 10 5 Deer bottle, 1949 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 12 6 Bottle, 1949 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 13 7 Voulkos at the wheel in 1956 15 8 Soup tureen and lid, 1952 (Collection of Efrosine Voulkos) 17 9 Bottle, 1954 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Millard Sheets) 18 10 Pot, 1956 (Collection of John Mason) 21 11 Jar, 1956 (Collection of Fred Marer) 25 12 Vase, 1956 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 26 13 Covered jar, 1956 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 28 14 Plate, 1957 (Collection of Fred Marer) 29 15 Branch vase, 1956 (Collection unknown) 30 16 Pot, 1956 (Collection of S. A. Rosenfeld) 32 17 Pot, 1956 (Collection of Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York) 33 18 Multiform Vase, 1956 (Collection unknown) 35 19 Rocking Pot, 1956 (Collection of ) 36 20 Painting, Blue Remington, 1961 (Collection of Pauline Annon) 38 21 Pot, 1957 (Collection of James Melchert) 39 22 Chicken Pot, 1957 (Collection unknown) 41 23 Plate, Bullfight, 1957 (Collection of Fred Marer) 42 24 Vase, 1959 (Collection of Fred Marer) 43 25 Sculpture, Black Butte-Divide, 1958 (Collection of Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena) 44 26 Voulkos in the studio, 1958 45 27 Vase, 1959 (Collection of Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul) 46 28 Sculpture, Black Bulerias, 1958 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Gersh) 47

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VIII 29 Sculpture, 5000 Feet, 1958 (Collection of Los Angeles Museum of Art) 48 30 Sculpture, Camelback Mountain, 1959 (Collection of Stephen D. Paine) 49 31 Sculpture, Sevillanos, 1959 (Collection of San Fran- cisco Museum of Modern Art) 50 32 Sculpture, 1960 (Collection of Ruth Braunstein) 51 33 Sculpture, 1968-1972, San Francisco Hall of Justice commission 53 34 Painting, Blue Slider, 1961 (Collection of Manuel Neri) 57 35 Sculpture, 1959 (Collection of ) 58 36 Feather River, 1960 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Kaufman) 59 37 Snake River, 1959 (Collection of Joseph Monsen) 60 38 Vase, 1959 (Collection of Fred Marer) 61 39 Studio, Berkeley, 1977 62 40 During assembly of the bronze now in Highland Park 63 41 Loading segments of Dunlop and Pirelli 64 42 An announcement of the Voulkos group in 1964 65 43 Peter Voulkos, 1926 67 44 The eye and hand of Voulkos, 1972 68 45 Sculpture, Return to Piraeus, 1970-1971 (Collection of University of California Art Museum, Berkeley) 70 46 Sculpture, Mr. Ishi (Collection of Oakland Museum) 71 47 Covered jar, 1968 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 72 48 Vase, Anaqua, 1968 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Blank) 73 49 Vase, 1973 (Collection of Dr. Seymour Rubenfeld) 75 50 In Glendale Avenue studio, Los Angeles, 1959 78 51 Voulkos at the wheel, 1976 79 52 Vase, 1964 (Collection of ) 81 53 Vase, 1961 (Collection of Pauline Annon) 82 54 Sculptured vase, 1961 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. 84 Monte Factor) 85 55 Vase, 1964 (Collection of Joseph Monsen) 89 56 Demo at Super Mud Conference, 1976 57a-d Turning, scoring, stacking, lifting 90-91 58 Plate, 1963 (Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Judd Marmor 92 59 Vase, 1963 (Collection of Wanda Hansen) 92 60 Turtle bowl, 1963 (Collection of Baltimore Museum of Art) 93 61 Vase, 1973 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Erie Loran) 94

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IX 62 Vase, 1977 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Honig) 95 63 Plate #1, 1962 (Collection of Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse) 96 64 Plate, 1976 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 97 65 Plate, 1963 (Collection of Lois Ladas) 99 66 Plate, 1957 (Collection of Fred Marer) 103 67 Vase, 1963 (Collection of National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto) 105 68 Double-neck vase, 1959 (Collection of Ted Weiner) 106 69 Pot, 1958 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 109 70 Plate, 1958 (Collection of Frances Senska and Jessie Wilber) 110 71 Bowl, 1956 (Collection of Stephen D. Paine) 110 72 Sculpture, Soleares, 1958 (Collection of the University of California, Los Angeles) 112 73 Voulkos working on a sculpture in 1960 113 74 Sculpture, Little Big Horn, 1958 (Collection of Oak- land Museum) 114 75 Sculpture, Sitting Bull, 1959 (Collection of Santa Bar- bara Museum of Art) 115 76 Sculpture, 1959 (Collection of Patricia and Philip Hack) 116 77 Sculpture, Gallas Rock, 1959-1961 (Collection of Frederick S. Wight Galleries, University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles) 118 78 Gallas Rock (detail) 120 79 Vase, Aratsa, 1968 (Collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca) 122 80 Bowl, 1972 (Collection of Efrosine Voulkos) 123 81 Bowl, 1969 (Collection of John Voulkos) 124 82 Cups, 1961 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 125 83 Studio in Berkeley: Voulkos and his forklift 127 84 Vase, 1977 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Honig) 135

Illustrations in Color plate following page 14 1 Bottle, 1949 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos) 2 Plate, 1957 (Collection of Fred Marer) 3 Plate, 1958 (Collection of Gerald Nordland) 4 Jar, 1956 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 5 Jar, 1956 (Collection of Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse) 6 Square plate, 1959 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 7 Sculpture, Cross, 1959 (Collection of Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York) 8 Sculptured pot, 1962 (Collection of Margaret Voulkos)

PETER VOULKOS following page 46 9 Sculpture, Gallas Rock, 1959-1961 (Collection of Frederick S. Wight Galleries, University of California, Los Angeles) 10 Pot sculpture, Red River, 1960 (Collection of Whitney Museum of American Art) 11 Pot sculpture, USA 41, 1960 (Collection of Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.) 12 Sculpture, Rondena, 1958 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley K. Sheinbaum) 13 Plate, 1963 (Collection of Fred Marer) 14 Sculptured vase, 1963 (Collection of Gerald Nordland) 15 Sculptured vase, 1963 (Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Ashe) 16 Vase, 1961 (Collection of Josephine Blumenfeld) following page 110 17 Plate, 1959 (Collection of Oakland Museum) 18 Painting, Untitled, 1958 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 19 Vase, Anada, 1968 (Collection of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) 20 Vase, 1959 (Collection of James Galanos) 21 Vase, 1962 (Collection of David Stuart) 22 Plate, 1975 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 23 Vase, 1973 (Collection of Peter Voulkos) 24 Plate, 1975 (Collection of Rose Slivka)

PETER VOULKOS