Gwyn Hanssen Pigott facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott
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Gwyn Hanssen Pigott in 1961
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| Born |
Gwynion Lawrie John
January 1, 1935 |
| Died | July 5, 2013 (aged 78) London, England
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| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | University of Melbourne |
| Known for | potter |
| Spouse(s) | Louis Hanssen (divorced) |
| Awards | Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) (2002) Australia Council Fellowship Award (1998) Fellow, Society of Designer Craftsmen (1963) |
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (1935–2013) was a famous Australian ceramic artist. She was known as one of Australia’s most important modern artists. By the time she passed away, many people thought she was "one of the world's greatest contemporary potters." She worked in many countries, including Australia, England, Europe, the US, New Zealand, Japan, and Korea. Her career lasted almost 60 years.
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott started by making useful pottery. Later, in the 1980s, she began creating special porcelain art pieces. These pieces looked like still-life paintings, often inspired by the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott was born Gwynion Lawrie John on January 1, 1935. She was born in Ballarat, Australia. She was the second of four daughters. Her father managed an engineering company. Her mother was an art and crafts teacher who made many things. She filled their home with her handmade craft objects.
In 1954, Gwyn finished her Bachelor of Arts degree. She studied at the University of Melbourne. Gwyn first learned about ceramics in the 1950s. She was a university student at the time. She loved the Chinese and Korean pottery at the National Gallery of Victoria. She was also very excited by Bernard Leach's book, A Potter's Book.
Gwyn researched pottery in Australia for her special university project. She found and was very interested in Ivan McMeekin. He had learned from famous potters Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew in England. Gwyn decided to stop her final year of university. Instead, she started learning from McMeekin as an apprentice.
Learning from Master Potters
From 1955 to 1959, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (then Gwyn John) learned from several important potters. She trained in both Australia and England. Her first apprenticeship was with Ivan McMeekin. This was at Sturt Pottery in Mittagong, New South Wales. She stayed there from 1955 to 1957.
McMeekin started Sturt Pottery in 1953. He wanted to make and teach pottery there. He followed the ideas of Leach and Cardew. These ideas focused on using local materials. They also focused on making pottery in small studios. At that time, all clay had to be prepared by hand. You could not buy it already mixed. At Sturt Pottery, Gwyn learned to understand clay. She also learned to appreciate the shape and beauty of a pot.
In 1958, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott traveled to England. She first worked with Ray Finch at Winchcombe Pottery. This pottery was started by Michael Cardew in 1926. In the same year, she also learned from Bernard Leach at St Ives. She then trained with Michael Cardew himself at Wenford Bridge.
In 1960, she moved from Cornwall. She went with her new husband, Louis Hanssen, a poet. They opened a pottery studio in Portobello Road, London. While in London, Gwyn Hanssen (as she was then known) took evening classes. She studied at the Camberwell School of Art with Lucie Rie. Her pottery from this time was sometimes marked GH or just H.
Making Useful Pottery
In 1966, Gwyn moved to Achères, France. She had visited there several times. She bought a small house and set up her own pottery studio. She used a special oven called a wood-fired kiln. She also dug her own clay. Even though her own clay was very good, she started using porcelain clay more often. This porcelain was made for factories nearby.
Gwyn never made standard pottery items. She also never published a catalog. She believed that everyday pots were important. She saw no difference between making many of the same pots and making unique ones. Her special mark on her pottery was a pressed GH. During this time, she made some of the best useful stoneware and porcelain ever.
Her work made her well-known around the world. She often taught pottery in the United States and the Netherlands. A big show of her work happened in London in 1971. This show celebrated her pottery from this time.
Decorated Pottery and New Beginnings
In 1973, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott returned to Australia. She moved to Tasmania in 1974. In 1976, she married her studio assistant, John Pigott. They set up a pottery workshop in Tasmania. They received money from the Crafts Board of the Australia Council to help them.
They used a special method called raw-glazing. They also fired their pots with wood. John mixed different clays and minerals from Tasmania. He made stoneware and porcelain clays. He also made colors for decorating. Their work looked like European country pottery. They mostly sold their work locally.
In 1980, Gwyn moved away from John Pigott. She kept his friendship and his last name. That year, she worked as a potter in Adelaide. She was at the Jam Factory Craft Centre. She had to use gas-fired kilns there. She made porcelain table settings. These were usually blue-grey or green celadon colors. She also used soft, washed-out shino-type colors. She also made many decorated pieces.
She continued this work from 1981 to 1989. She was a potter in residence at the Queensland University of Technology. She made gas-fired dinner settings. She also made wood-fired pots. These pots had tiny indigo patterns. Sometimes, these patterns were highlighted with gold.
Creating Still-Life Art
In 1984, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott went back to London. She had a show of her work at the Casson Gallery. She saw what other artists had been doing. She felt that her own work was missing something. This feeling started the most famous part of her career. During this time, she lived in country Queensland. She showed her work mainly through Garry Anderson's gallery in Sydney. From this time on, her potter's mark was a pressed O.
Earlier in her career, Gwyn focused on making useful pottery. But she is best known for her later art pieces. These were three-dimensional still-life groups. They were made of wood-fired porcelain. She gave them names like The Listeners and Breath. She worked on these from the 1980s onwards. One large art piece, Caravan, was shown in 2004. It was fifty-five feet long.
These groupings were mostly inspired by the still-life paintings of the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi. Gwyn herself found this change in her work surprising. She had always wanted to make personal and useful objects. She hinted that seeing so much of Queensland from the air, as a teacher for the Australian Flying Arts School, helped her think differently. Many people who saw her work during this time felt it had a deeper meaning.
In 1989, she was an artist in residence at the Fremantle Arts Centre. Later that year, she moved to Netherdale in north Queensland. In 1993, the Australia Council gave her a special three-year fellowship. This helped her develop as an artist. In 1994, she was an artist in residence in her hometown of Ballarat. She worked in the Ceramics Department of the School of Mines and Industries. In 2000, she set up her last pottery studio in Ipswich. This is in south-eastern Queensland.
In 2005, the National Gallery of Victoria held a big exhibition. It was called Gwyn Hanssen Pigott: A Survey 1955–2005. A 112-page book was made for the show.
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott passed away on Friday, July 5, 2013. She died in London after having a stroke. She had been in London to arrange a new art show.
Artistic Influences
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott's work shows many different influences. You can see ideas from Song Dynasty glazes and colors. You can also see shapes from the Leach–Cardew style. She also wrote about her interest in the quiet still-life paintings by Italian artist, Giorgio Morandi. These paintings greatly influenced her later work.
Song Dynasty Pottery
The pottery from the Northern Song period focused on calm and thoughtful shapes. The glazes had rich colors. But the decorations on the surfaces were very simple. Any decoration was delicate and not too much. The pottery from this time was made with great skill.
Leach and Cardew's Ideas
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott also followed the ideas of Leach and Cardew. They believed that everyday objects and humility were important in pottery. She felt that the shapes of common, everyday utensils could express deep human feelings.
Giorgio Morandi's Paintings
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott may have started arranging her pottery into still-life groups slowly. But she was definitely influenced by other artists. She wrote about her interest in the paintings of Italian artist Giorgio Morandi. She also mentioned the still-life paintings of English painter Ben Nicholson.
Gwyn explained how her work became different from Leach and Cardew's goals. She said she no longer cared if a cup was used for tea. Instead, she liked to place it in a quiet group of objects. These objects were arranged as a still life. She felt that pleasure came from the way these simple, everyday objects related to each other.
Where Her Art Can Be Found
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott’s art is in many collections.
Australian Collections
Her work is in the Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Australia, and National Gallery of Victoria. It is also in smaller galleries in places like Ballarat, Bathurst, Bendigo, and Geelong. You can also find it at the Queensland University of Technology and the University of New South Wales.
International Collections
Her art is also in museums around the world. These include the Winnipeg Museum in Canada. In France, it's in the Fina Gomez Collection. In Japan, it's at the Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art. The Boijmans Museum in the Netherlands also has her work. In the United Kingdom, her art is at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In the USA, it's at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Awards and Recognitions
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott received many honors:
- 2002: She received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). This was for her work as a ceramic artist and teacher.
- 1998: She received the Australia Council Fellowship Award.
- 1963: She became a Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen in the UK.
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