Paul Soldner (American, 1921-2011), Tall Vase

Hand-built stoneware vase with flared mouth, decorated in blue and crimson glazes with calligraphic iron oxide designs, ink signed and numbered "Soldner / #9413" to the underside. Included with the lot is a VHS video on the artist as well a June issue of Studio Potter, 1995 vol. 23 issue No. 2, featuring an interview with the artist titled Romancing the Clay.

20 1/2 x 5 x 4 1/4 in.

Collection of the Prange Family

Paul Soldner was born in Summerfield, Illinois on April 24, 1921. He served in the United States Army as a medic for three and a half years during World War II. He earned a bachelor's degree in Art Education at Bluffton College in Ohio, and then a master's degree in Arts Administration from the University of Colorado in Boulder. It was at Boulder that he was introduced to ceramics by Katie Horseman, a visiting lecturer and head of ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. After teaching art for eight years in public schools, at the age of 33, Soldner decided to become a potter. He headed for the Los Angeles County Art Institute, and became Peter Voulkos's first student, earning an MFA in 1956.

Paul was one of Voulkos's few students who continued to make functional ceramics at the institute (Garth Clark, "A Century of Ceramics in the United States, 1878-1978), p. 330). Though he worked in a traditional form, his exploratory nature was involved in creating his monumental "floor pots," which stood up to eight or nine feet in height, often with expressionistically painted areas on the forms.

Paul Soldner has made numerous invaluable contributions to the field of ceramics, including developing what has come to be known as "American Raku," and a technique known as "low-temperature salt firing."

New issues and ideas have always been incorporated into Soldner's work. His development of the low-temperature salt firing method for his raku pieces and his "pedestal pieces" - thrown and altered sculptural clay forms - push the limits of clay, revealing unique textures and forms. Soldner's works have been exhibited throughout all of the major cities of Europe and the United States, Canada, Latvia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Australia.

Soldner is also the author of numerous articles and a book (Kilns and Their Construction), and the founder of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. The center was founded in 1968 and Soldner served as the director in the early 1970s. It is now well-known for its excellent summer program, drawing people from all over the world to study with well-known teachers.

His work is important international collections including: The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City Iowa; Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Ontario, Canada; Victoria and Albert Museum of Art, London, England; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan; Australian National Gallery, Sydney, Australia; among many others.

Scattered stable firing hairlines as made.