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ceramics

Curator’s Corner

Japanese Porcelain Tradition

Monday, June 9, 2014 | Karl Cole

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but I’m absolutely bonkers about ceramic art, and particularly Japanese and Chinese. This piece especially garnered my attention because it combines re ...

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Curator’s Corner

Fantasy Christmas Present I

Monday, December 9, 2013 | Karl Cole

Since I am not expecting to see a new car with a red bow on top of it for a Christmas present, I thought I would use the month of December to present gifts that I would absolutely LOVE to get (but nev ...

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Curator’s Corner

Holy Cats!

Monday, October 14, 2013 | Karl Cole

I’m always interested in how important of a role domesticated animals have played in the history of art, particularly in the sphere of funerary art. They almost always take on a protective or st ...

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Curator’s Corner

East-West Influence, Revisited

Monday, March 11, 2013 | Karl Cole

When one thinks of “influence” concerning Asian and Western art, one tends to think of Western inroads into traditional Asian styles and subject matter. However, Western art has been influ ...

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Curator’s Corner

Traditions of Change

Monday, December 17, 2012 | Karl Cole

My husband and I received several ceramic art pieces, one of my favorite art forms, as wedding presents. One of my favorite manifestations of this genre is the ceramic art of the Carolinas. I can&rsqu ...

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Curator’s Corner

Epiphany of the Week: Eva Hild

Monday, October 22, 2012 | Karl Cole

Just when I’m in danger of becoming cynical that there is very little in the art world that has not yet been done, I come upon this amazing artist: Eva Hild. This is my epiphany of the week (yes ...

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Curator’s Corner

The Idea of Tomb Figures

Tuesday, September 6, 2011 | Karl Cole

I recently attended the wake of a friend’s mom and couldn’t help but contemplate how contemporary funerary rituals differ from those in world history (especially an open coffin). If you pu ...

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Curator’s Corner

Yakimono

Thursday, August 4, 2011 | Karl Cole

Yakimono in Japanese refers to a “fired thing.” A reverence for nature has historically been part of Japanese art since ancient times. Interestingly, the evocation of the respect for natur ...

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Curator’s Corner

What's Old is New

Monday, July 11, 2011 | Karl Cole

I don’t usually go Gaga over ceramics (well, wait, yes I do!), but when we added this image to our collection I had a “never knew that” moment. Most art history texts cover the ancie ...

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Curator’s Corner

American Art Pottery Pioneer

Monday, November 22, 2010 | Karl Cole

I’ve told you all about American Art Pottery in a previous blog. It’s a fascinating topic, because it is evidence of the major impact of women artists on the American art scene, one of the ...

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Curator’s Corner

Fancy Paint Box

Monday, June 28, 2010 | Karl Cole

I always look for artistic beauty in everyday objects, and I have shown you many that really caught my eye. But this piece has got to be the high point of this concept. Actually, this Wedgwood piece a ...

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Curator’s Corner

A Taste for the "Exotic"?

Monday, April 12, 2010 | Karl Cole

Having blossomed into teen-hood in the 1970s, I often like to compare some of the “art” that emerged in the 1800s with the 1970s. It’s like, “what were they thinking?” Th ...

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Curator’s Corner

Something Completely Different

Monday, March 1, 2010 | Karl Cole

I am a big admirer of artists who produce porcelain. I don’t own any, but I sure love to see examples in museums. Porcelain was first produced in China in the first millennium CE and in Japan in ...

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Curator’s Corner

Mesoamerica-North American Connection

Monday, January 4, 2010 | Karl Cole

I just finished my part of work on the revision of our studio book about clay and so I thought I would show you a ceramic artwork this week. As an art historian, I enjoy making connections between cul ...

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Curator’s Corner

Art in Everyday Life: Ancient Greece

Monday, November 23, 2009 | Karl Cole

As I’ve mentioned before, I resist the Western art historical tendency to consider the art of ancient Greece and Rome as the high points of artistic achievement, in a broad view of art around th ...

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Curator’s Corner

Art in Everyday Life

Monday, November 16, 2009 | Karl Cole

While looking at images for the revision of one of our books, I came across an image of a metal pitcher from the 1930s. It had such clean, modern lines that it could easily be mistaken for a contempor ...

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