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Indepth Arts News:
"BRIGHT HUES AND ELABORATE DESIGNS FEATURED IN CERAMIC EXHIBITION AT DIA"
1999-07-14 until 1999-11-07
Detroit Institute of Art
Detroit, MI,
USA United States of America
Splashes of turquoise, purple, red and yellow decorate the pottery featured in the
exhibition Joseph-Theodore Deck: The Art of Ceramics in Nineteenth-Century France,
on view July 14-November 7, 1999. Deck, a master chemist, specialized in faience
(glazed earthenwares) and expounded on it by borrowing motifs from mediums such as
metalwork, textiles and porcelain. These innovations and his encyclopedic knowledge of
ceramic history set him apart from his contemporaries. In 1887, Deck published La
Faience, which summarizes his 30 years of scientific research on ceramics and was one
of the earliest scholarly surveys of Western pottery from ancient Egypt to 18th-century
France.
Deck perfected new glazes, brilliant colors and styles of decoration, which earned him
numerous first-prize medals at many international exhibitions, including those held in
Philadelphia, Vienna, London and Paris. His styles ranged from French and Italian
Renaissance to Chinese, Japanese and Islamic. The East Asian and Islamic styles will by
featured in the exhibition. Many of the pieces are on loan from local collectors Mr. and
Mrs. Donald H. Ross.
Deck was one of the most influential and talented ceramists working in Europe during
the second half of the 19th century...we are fortunate to have such a large collection of
his works in this community, said Tracey Albainy, associate curator in the European
Sculpture and Decorative Arts department.
Audiences can enjoy gallery talks in the exhibition at 2 p.m. on the following Sundays:
July 18 and October 24, with Marilyn ross, ceramics collector and specialist; August 15,
with Tracey Albainy.
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