Sylvia Hyman (Tennessee, 1917-2012) ceramic trompe l'oeil sculpture in the form of a farmer's market style basket of Easter eggs. Signed and dated on underside "Sylvia Hyman Nashville Tn 2001". 3 3/4"h x 5" w x 4 1/2"D. Provenance: Private Nashville collection. Biography: Sylvia Hyman was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1917. She worked as a public school art teacher, as well as a faculty member of Peabody College. In 1957, Hyman received some ceramic equipment, which launched her artistic career as a ceramist. She became a specialist in creating trompe l'oeil ceramic sculptures. Examples of her work are the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Saga Prefectural Museum in Saga, Japan, the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville, and the Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C.; her work was also featured in the Art of Tennessee exhibit at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville in 2003. Hyman received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Craft Arts from the National Museum of Women in the Arts of Washington, D.C. in 1993 and the Tennessee Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts in 1994. A book of her artwork, The Intriguing Vision of Sylvia Hyman: Trompe l'Oeil Ceramic Artist, edited by Janet Mansfield, was published around the time of her death in 2012. (Source: Askart). (Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.caseantiques.com.)