Peter Voulkos (American, 1924-2002) Multinecked Jar-Sculpture, 1955 Ceramic 28-1/4 x 7-1/2 inches (71.8 x 19.1 cm) Inscribed Voulkos, 55 to underside EXHIBTION HISTORY: Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Jet Dreams: Art of the Pacific Northwest, March 17-June 4, 1995 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue). In the early 1950s, American sculptor Peter Voulkos transformed ceramics, merging time-honored craft traditions, especially Japanese, and abstract expressionism. Encounters and exchanges with figures such as Joseph Albers and Robert Rauschenburg at Black Mountain College in North Carolina and Franz Kline and Willem de Koonig in New York inspired Volkous to apply their concepts and techniques to the medium of clay, pushing its limits in terms of form, function, and scale. Voulkos produced the present work in 1955 during this initial phase of experimentation and discovery. He formed the voluptuous vessel on the potter's wheel only to slash into and manipulate it, forming the multipart neck and pierced body decorated with Kline-like brushwork. The form and the title of the work – Multinecked Jar-Sculpture - call into question the boundary between craft and art, one Voulkos continued to challenge and transgress throughout his prolific career. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved