Contents
6 Introduction 10 Acknowledgments 13 Note to the Reader
The Early Years
14
First Recognition: The 1950s
40
23 Emergent Decade: The 1960s
Exploring Basse-Taille
52 67
Electroplating
87
Rethinking Tradition: Champlevé, Cloisonné, and Plique-à-Jour
109 Broadening Horizons: The 1970s
Honors and Awards: 1980–2000
Influence and Inspiration
Final Years: 2000–2015
Stitched Forms
122 131
Pleated Forms
143
Petal Forms
153
SLAC-Inspired Compositions
162 173
Vertical Forms
183
Cuffs and Collars
197
Architectural Forms
205
Open Forms
219
Cinched Forms
224 277
Plaques and Panels: Variations on Wall-Mounted Forms
293
Sandblasting and Surface Plating
312 319
Spectral Forms
328 Photography Credits
introduction
June Schwarcz (1918–2015) was among the most innovative artists working in the contemporary enamels field. Best known for her electroplated metal sculpture embellished with rich enamel color, she produced an extensive body of work that, while linked to long-standing vessel-making traditions, defied convention because, as she wryly noted, “They simply don’t hold water.”1 In spite of her witty disclaimer, Schwarcz maintained a lifelong interest in the vessel. Round or square, tall or squat, pleated or cuffed, this humble, universal form engaged her imagination and, throughout life, served as a central vehicle for her work. Her vessels were never intended for such day-to-day purposes as displaying flowers, serving food, or drinking. Rather, she created aesthetic objects, sculptural forms she hoped would bring beauty and pleasure to the fabric of everyday life. As she noted in two separate artist statements, “I am ever in pursuit of those elusive qualities of beauty and vitality. . . . I want to make objects that are beautiful to a sensitive observer.”2 She also saw these containers, each one unique, as part of a continuous tradition of handmade forms extending back in time and across a wide variety of cultures. In exploring this seemingly ubiquitous object, she felt a connection to long-standing cultural practices. In a laconic statement she made in 1994, Schwarcz summarized the attraction: “The objects I make are mostly bowls and vessels that are not made to be used as containers. . . . The vessel form is a basic shape for all mankind with a rich history. I like to feel part of that tradition.”3 Schwarcz also found that through this simple form, she was able to explore a wide range of technical, conceptual, and associative possibilities. In an undated answer to the question “Why do I make hollowware?” she stated: “I find that the vessel form is capable of infinite variations. It has had a part in the long history of mankind. I feel like I am working within that tradition, but with my own variations.”4 Her statement makes it clear that, while the vessel connected her with other makers across time and place, it was also a means to experiment, to assert her unique vision and aesthetic.
6
Bowl (#543) 1969
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Electroplated copper foil and enamel, lustered 4 3/4 × 8 3/4 in. Minnesota Museum of American Art
Bowl (#794)
Electroplated copper foil and enamel, light liver of sulfur 5 3/4 × 6 5/8 in. Collection of Jamie Bennett
1980
115
Vessel (#879) 1983
116
Electroplated copper foil and enamel, oxidized 6 1/2 × 10 × 9 1/4 in.
Vessel (#888) 1983
117
Electroplated copper foil and enamel, oxidized 4 1/4 × 7 1/2 in. Collection of Forrest L. Merrill
Central Asia II (#567) 1970
255
Etched and electroplated copper and enamel 12 3/4 × 10 in. Enamel Arts Foundation Gift of Mary Fogarty Smith
Lillian Elliott Bowl (#833)
Electroplated copper foil and enamel 6 7/8 × 7 7/8 × 5 1/4 in. Collection of Forrest L. Merrill
1981
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final years 2000–2015
In the last fifteen years of her life, Schwarcz produced an astonishing variety of work. Undaunted by ongoing health challenges and increasing frailty, she continued to pursue inventive approaches to material, structure, and content. A classic example of turning adversity to advantage—lemons to lemonade—she discovered strategies for circumventing physical problems and, in the process, unleashed a whole new way of conceiving and fabricating form. With an unalloyed compulsion to produce—even in her final years—Schwarcz claimed that the most meaningful moments in her day were those when she was able to spend uninterrupted time in her studio producing new work. As ideas occurred to her in rapid succession, she admitted she often felt frustrated that she could not work faster to produce more. Remarkably, at a time in life when many artists rest on their laurels and repeat familiar forms and formats, Schwarcz continued to challenge herself and exploit her medium’s full expressive potential. As she modestly stated: “I’d simply get bored doing the same thing I’ve always done. I need to explore.”1 New Experiments with Mesh When she reached her late eighties, Schwarcz began to experience increasing difficulty lifting heavy objects and moving them in and out of her kiln. This had always been a challenge, exacerbated by the fact that she typically fired her pieces multiple times. In the 1980s, Leroy had devised a long-handled, dual-pronged rod that allowed her to use the full expanse of her forearm as a brace and move her pieces more easily in and out of the kiln. In later years, as she became weaker, even this clever tool proved insufficient. In 2005, seeking a way around the problem, she began to use lightweight copper wire mesh to form the structure of her pieces. This greatly reduced their weight, making it possible to lift them with considerably less effort. As she explored, she discovered that the copper mesh was commercially available in various fine and coarse weaves and with a wide range of gauges, or diameters, for the wire. Although she never completely abandoned her use of copper foil, over the next ten years she produced an expansive body of 312
work, investigating ways in which to exploit this new material’s formal, technical, and expressive range. It is not surprising that this fabriclike mesh appealed to Schwarcz. Ever since childhood, she had been interested in cloth, sewing, and costume construction. She found that the mesh, with its pliability, transparency, and strength—as well as its light weight—was very much like fabric and offered a wealth of possibilities for building form. Notably, she often referred to the mesh in her record book as “wire cloth.” Between 2005 and 2015, she produced a remarkably varied series of work using copper mesh as a foundation. After assembling a piece by arranging and stitching the mesh—just as she had done earlier with thin sheets of copper foil—she immersed it in her plating tank. Sometimes the piece was quickly plated for a light buildup, and other times she left it in the tank for several days, producing a heavier accumulation of copper. Once the structure was formed, Schwarcz applied enamel or used various forms of patination to create a subtle range of evocative tones (see pp. 301, 303, and 305). Occasionally she left the wire mesh exposed. She also used plating or sandblasting to create surface effects and textural variety. Because the mesh was so supple, she was able to score lines, emboss, or draw designs on its surface that would retain their character through the plating process. As she did in her foil pieces, she often folded and creased the mesh to create pleats, darts, and other allusions to clothing and costume. Her use of mesh, in addition to offering a practical solution to a vexing physical challenge, afforded Schwarcz a whole new range of technical and expressive possibilities. She continued to explore a rich array of forms and formats for the last ten years of her life. Schwarcz’s use of wire mesh also had an impact on numerous artists working with metal, enamel, and other related mediums, among them the Chicago-based fiber artist Frank Connet. Connet first visited Schwarcz in 2010 to study her various form-building techniques. That visit and their subsequent conversations resulted in a new series of work in which Connet used electroplated mesh to create remarkable freestanding sculptural forms, bold extensions of his tied-and-bundled shibori textiles.2 Exhibitions Schwarcz continued to exhibit her work throughout the early twenty-first century. Although she had no significant ongoing gallery representation after Susan Cummins closed her Mill Valley space in 2002, she was featured in shows at places such as Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco; Mobilia in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and de Vera in San Francisco and New York. Her work was also displayed at numerous museums and community art centers across the country. Foremost among these were the solo exhibitions organized by four institutions in California, including two at the Palo Alto Art Center (2003 and 2006), and one each at the Fresno Art Museum (2008), the Mingei International Museum, San Diego (2009) (fig. 44), and the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles 313
photography credits
June Schwarcz Estate (#352, #479, #557, #587, #591, #621, #645, #733, #734, #753, #766, #800, #810, #814, #853) Anat Shiftan (#794) Wendy Van Deusen (#2009) Molly Wagner (#521, #779) Gene Young (#804, #2025, #2117)
Illustrations Unless otherwise noted, all photography is by M. Lee Fatherree. Todd Anderson (#590) Arizona State University Art Museum (#556, #564, #905) Arkansas Arts Center (#709) Denver Art Museum (#316) Eye Magic (#302, #323, #332, #342, #347, #532, #560, #682, #777, Cigarette Box) Richard P. Goodbody (#744, #808) Kate Hurst (#411, #494, #534A, #572, #661, #1072, #2042, #2168, #2210, #2257, #2289) Bernard N. Jazzar (#487) Wes Magyar (#647) Minnesota Museum of American Art (#543) Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (#579) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (#818, #894) Museum of Texas Tech University (#472) The Newark Museum (#432) Racine Art Museum (#904, #1057, #1076) Jairo Ramirez (#319, #567, #580, #675, #695, #704, #1045, #2030, #2098, #2193, #2216A, #2216B, #2223, #2295, #2308, #2363, #2429) RISD Museum (#948)
Figures American Craft Council Archive (18–21, 23, 24, 26) Bonham’s (36) M. Lee Fatherree (22, 33, 35) Lynn Fayman (9, 14, 15) Courtesy of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (40) Bob Harwayne (28–31) Bernard N. Jazzar (8, 10, 11, 32, 44, 47) Long Beach Museum of Art (45) Metropolitan Museum of Art (37, 39) Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (41) Prado Museum (43) San Francisco Examiner (25) June Schwarcz Estate (1, 2, 4–7, 12, 13, 16, 17, 27, 34, 38, 46) Stoffel (3) Zodiaque (42)
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