George E. Ohr

George E. Ohr (1857-1918) was an early American pottery artist who broke new ground in the late 1890s as he experimented with modern clay forms.cite web
last =
first =
title = George E. Ohr art links
publisher = ArtCyclopedia
date = 2008-01-22
url = http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/ohr_george_e.html
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] Some consider him the father of the American Abstract-Expressionism movement.

Life

Ohr was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, on July 12, 1857, married Josephine Gehring of New Orleans on September 15, 1886, in Biloxi, and died in 1918.cite web
last =
first =
title = George Edgar Ohr (1857 - 1918)
publisher = AskArt
date =
url = http://www.askart.com/askart/o/george_edgar_ohr/george_edgar_ohr.aspx
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ]

He studied the potter's trade with Joseph Meyer in New Orleans, a potter whose family hailed from Alsace-Lorraine, as did Ohr's.cite web
last = Carr Black
first = Patti
title = George E. Ohr: America’s First Art Potter
publisher = Mississippi Historical Society
date = 2002-05
url = http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=30
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] Ohr's father had established the first blacksmith shop in Biloxi and his mother ran an early, popular grocery store there.cite web
last =
first =
title = George E. Ohr Pottery & Ceramics Information & History
publisher = Collectics Reference & Collector Education
date =
url = http://www.collectics.com/education_ohr.html
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] In his lifetime, Ohr created over 10,000 known pots. He called himself "The Mad Potter of Biloxi" and was a showman of the style of P.T. Barnum, a contemporary. Ohr was an iconic American figure at the turn of the last century. He called his work "unequaled, undisputed, unrivaled."cite web
last = Watson
first = Bruce
title = The Mad Potter of Biloxi
publisher = Smithsonian.com
date = 2004-02-01
url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/10012481.html?page=1
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] In 1884, Ohr exhibited and sold his wares at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans. Of the 600 pieces he brought to New Orleans, no two were alike.cite web
last = Klein Albertson
first = Karla
title = The Odyssey of George E. Ohr
publisher = Antiques and the Arts Online
date = 2003-09-02
url = http://antiquesandthearts.com/2003-09-02__12-27-05.html&page=2
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] The 1894 fire that burned most of Biloxi also destroyed Ohr's workshop, and it has been noted that Ohr's post-fire works show tremendous "energy" and "fluidity."

His work

) advocated that an artist should display control and perfection in all art forms. Ohr displayed little obvious perfectionism in his art or control in his person, antagonizing art leaders nationally and political leaders at home. Ohr's work is now seen as ground-breaking and a harbinger of the abstract sculpture and pottery that developed in the mid-20th century. Ohr's pieces are now relatively rare and highly coveted.cite web
last = Antiques and the Arts Editorial Content
first =
title = Record George Ohr Teapot Leads Craftsman Auction
publisher = Antiques and the Arts Online
date = 2003-02-11
url = http://antiquesandthearts.com/AW0-02-11-2003-12-08-45
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ]

A notable feature of Ohr's pottery is that many items have thin walls, metallic glazes, and twisted, pinched shapes. To this day potters marvel at Ohr's porcelain-thin walls and unusual glazes. No one has been able to replicate them using a pottery wheel, which is how Ohr made his works. Ohr dug much of his clay locally in southern Mississippi from the Tchoutacabouffa River. Tchoutacabouffa is the Biloxi tribe's word for "broken pot."cite book
last = McKee
first = Jesse O.
coauthors = Velvelyn Blackwell Foster, Stephen Young, et al.
title = Mississippi: The Magnolia State
publisher = Clairmont Press
location = Atlanta
date = 2005
pages = p. 330
url = http://www.clairmontpress.com/MS05/Textbook/MS%202004%2013.pdf
isbn = 1567331254 ]

The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum

The [http://www.georgeohr.org Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art] in Biloxi has a large permanent collection of Ohr's work. A new museum building for the Ohr-O'Keefe that has been designed by Frank Gehry and will be set on a four-acre site was originally scheduled to open in July 2006,cite web
last =
first =
title = Frank O. Gehry - The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum
publisher = arcspace Magazine
date = 2001-07-10
url = http://www.arcspace.com/architects/gehry/ohr/
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] but was partially destroyed during Hurricane Katrina when a casino barge was washed onto the semi-constructed facility. Efforts are under way to recover insurance, and meanwhile, a major national exhibition of Ohr pottery was planned by the museum for 2007.cite web
last = Firmin
first = Pam
title = Famed architect says he'll help Gulf Coast rebuild
publisher = Knight Ridder Newspapers
date = 2005-09-07
url = http://wirednewyork.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-7236.html
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ] In early 2008, the planned traveling exhibition, titled "George Ohr Rising: The Emergence of an American Master," was being shown at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, California.cite web
last =
first =
title = George Ohr Rising: The Emergence of an American Master
publisher = American Museum of Ceramic Art website
date = 2007-12-08
url = http://www.ceramicmuseum.org/ohr-rising.htm
accessdate = 2008-05-06 ]

External links

* [http://www.georgeohr.org/ Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art]

References