Artists - Page 2
'Notable' outside artists in the nineteenth century included the following -
Emile Lessore (1805-1876)
A renowned painter on pottery and porcelain - Lessore studied in the Studio of Ingres, exhibiting regularly at the Paris Salon. He worked at the Sèvres factory, then moved to England, where he was first employed by Minton. In 1860 he moved to Wedgwood, Etruria, where he gained a great reputation. At the 1862 International exhibition, Lessore became the first Wedgwood artist since the celebrated John Flaxman jnr to receive individual acclaim for his designs. As with many artists Lessore's work was not fully appreciated during his own lifetime. However, in later years he was to achieve the recognition which he truly deserved.
Walter Crane (1845-1915)
Artist, designer, book illustrator, and an associate of William Morris. Crane was one of the leading figures in the Arts and Crafts Movement, and first President of the Arts and Crafts Society. He was introduced to the Wedgwoods in 1866 and was commissioned to design decoration for a number of Queen's Ware (cream coloured earthenware) vases - the first two pairs of which - 'The Seasons' and 'The Hours', 'The Ages of Man' and 'The Employments' were delivered in January 1867. Later he finished two more pairs with the subjects of 'Knowledge and Imagination', 'Science and Poetry', and 'Beauty & Utility' included.
Another friend of the Wedgwood family was William de Morgan, potter and author, and one of the leading exponents of the Arts and Crafts movement. He often acquired Wedgwood 'blanks' - that is tiles, large size earthenware plaques etc, to decorate with, for example, the rich lustres he was developing from the 1870s.
The twentieth century saw the Wedgwood factory using the services of outside artists of many disciplines, more and more. Amongst the many famous names who have been associated with the factory are the following -
Richard Talbot Guyatt (1914-)
Richard Gerald Talbot Guyatt was born in l9l4 and commenced work as a Designer and graphic artist during the l930's. In l948 he became Professor of Graphic Design at the Royal College of Art - and his association with the Wedgwood firm dates from this time. Guyatt has designed a wide range of commemorative wares for the Wedgwood firm, including numerous Queen's Ware mugs which were issued for commemorative purposes. The first of these, the l953 Coronation Mug, issued to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II has now become a collector's item. Other designs for the Wedgwood firm have included the 'Oranges and Lemons' set retailed originally through Liberty's.
Keith Day Pearce Murray MC, RDI, FRIBA (1892-1981)
Keith Day Pearce Murray was born in New Zealand in 1892 and was later to become both architect and potter. He together with Josiah Wedgwood V, Tom Wedgwood and John Wedgwood were to combine in the creation of probably the most important event in the history of 20th century Wedgwood, the Barlaston factory. However, throughout the 1920's he struggled to find work as an architect, which encouraged him to look at other forms of design.
In 1931, Keith Murray produced some designs for Arthur Marriott Powell, Director of Whitefriars Glassworks and later in 1932 was employed by Herbert Williams-Thomas of the Stevens and Williams Glassworks. This association with Powell resulted in Murray being introduced to Felton Wreford who was Manager of Wedgwood's London Showrooms and it was he who invited the designer to visit Etruria. On his visit to the factory Josiah Wedgwood V encouraged Murray to study the various processes in the manufacturing of good quality ware and invited him to design for Wedgwood on a freelance basis.
In October 1932, Keith Murray helped Tom Wedgwood with the design for two vegetable dishes in the new Annular shape. Through this, in 1933, Wedgwood secured the architect/designer's services. Keith Murray designs were functional making jugs, bowls and tableware, which bore a close resemblance to his love of architecture. Pieces that he produced at this time used 18th century methods to simply decorate the ware, but above all these were functional using new bodies and glazes developed by Norman Wilson in the tradition of the first Josiah. Keith Murray's pieces which he designed found prominence in an exhibition held at John Lewis in Oxford Street from 13 November to 2 December 1933, and included 124 shapes designed by him.
By 1935, Keith Murray's work in ceramics was more renowned. In this same year, his pieces formed part of an important exhibition held at the Royal Academy and attracted a lot of attention. In fact the art critic for the Times newspaper wrote - 'Nothing in this exhibition is more gratifying than the work as designer of Keith Murray, in ceramics, glass ware and silver.'. Wedgwood's own exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in 1936 featured many of Keith Murray's tableware including Lotus, Weeping Willow also known as Green Tree, Iris, Pink Flower and Pink and Red Pimpernel and at least two border patterns, Lotus and Radio. This exhibition was to point out Wedgwood's continuing link between art and industry.
Because of the simplicity of Keith Murray's designs they remained in production throughout the whole of the Second World War and formed a large part of the Wedgwood catalogue of glazes, bodies and shapes current for 1940-1950. The only bodies that were not produced during the war were red bodied stoneware, the copper and bronze basalt, but from 1940 onwards Black Basalt, Moonstone, matt green, matt straw and the two tone slip wares were still in production. Keith Murray's major contribution to Wedgwood in the 20th century however, was the building and opening of the new Barlaston factory in 1940 which set the standard for the rest of the industry to follow.
Oscar Nemon (1906-1985)
A renowned sculptor, he was born in Yugoslavia on the 13th March 1906. Prior to settling in Britain he held exhibitions of his work in Belgium and in Paris. He came to England in 1938, and commenced work on producing portrait busts and sculptures of some of the most prominent 20th century figures. He is perhaps best remembered for his images of Winston Churchill, but his work for the Wedgwood factory included representations of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Montgomery and the Jockey Lester Piggott. These were reproduced by the Wedgwood Barlaston based factory in the revived Parian body.
