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The History of Ceramics
Adelaide Alsop Robineau - The Pioneering Potter
Adelaide Alsop Robineau - The Pioneering Potter
Who created the Mona Lisa of American ceramics? And how was it stolen from under the noses of museum guards? In this episode Paul Greenhalgh and Stephanie Rozene travel back in time to the American Gilded Age, at the end of the 19th century, to discuss the life and work of Adelaide Alsop Robineau, the pioneering potter who fought to make her own work her own way, and went on to win the top prize at the prestigious World’s Fair, putting American ceramics on the map.
Ceramics and artwork in this week’s episode include:
Cup with beetles, 1901 by Adelaide Alsop Robineau Courtesy of The Met Collection
Vase (Crystalline)1910 by Adelaide Alsop Robineau Courtesy of the Everson Museum of Art
Staff of the University City Pottery and Art Institute, 1910 Courtesy of the Everson Museum of Art Archives
Scarab Vase, 1910 by Adelaide Alsop Robineau Courtesy of the Everson Museum of Art
Detail of the Scarab Vase, 1910 by Adelaide Alsop Robineau Courtesy of the Everson Museum of Art
Cinerary Urn, Circa 1929 by Adelaide Alsop Robineau Courtesy of the Everson Museum of Art
Stolen Art Alert Poster International Foundation for Art Research Courtesy of the Everson Museum of Art Archives
Professor Paul Greenhalgh is a specialist on the art and design of the Modern period. He has written widely on Art Nouveau and curated several exhibitions including the major survey Art Nouveau 1890-1914, which toured internationally (2000-01). His books include Ephemeral Vistas (1988), Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau 1890–1914 (2000), The Modern Ideal (2005), Fair World (2011), L’Art Nouveau: La Revolution Decorative (2013), Ceramic Art and Civilisation (2021) and Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth (2022). He has held positions as Head of Research at the V&A Museum, London; President and Director at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Director of the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich; and Inaugural Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, London. He was born and raised in Bolton, and is a proud Lancastrian.
Stephanie Rozene is a ceramic artist, Professor of Art, and the Ceramics Program Coordinator at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York she has been teaching, writing and making art since 2004. At Hartwick she's been honored with the Wandersee Scholar in Residence award twice, along with the Teacher Scholar Award. Stephanie's research uses historical ornament and porcelain as a visual language to critique contemporary political rhetoric, and she also explores the history of clay as a cooking tool. Her work has been shown extensively both nationally and internationally. She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics and is the Vice President of the board of trustees for the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, and was educated at NSCAD University in Nova Scotia, Canada and the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
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Introducing The History of Ceramics
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