Earl McCutchen: Craftsmanship in Ceramics and Glass

*

GEORGI,A MUSEUM OF ART Martha and Eugene Odum Gallery of Decorative Arts October T.g, zoo2, to January 12, 2ooj

ACI(NOWLEDGMENTS I

extend warm gratitude to Mary McCutchen

for her assistance with

this exhibition, for opening her home to the staff of the Georgia Museum of Art, and for graciously loaning so many wonderful objects. This

exhibition would not haue

been possible

without her enthusiasm and

support. Learning about Earl McCutchen's remarkable career has been one

of the pleasures of nry role as curator of decoratiue arts. He is

a ualuable part of the history of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the Uniuersity of Georgia and of the history of postwar studio art in the United States.

I am delighted that

the Henry D. Green Center

for the Study

of the Decoratiue Arts has been able to present this exhibition, and

I

hope that in addition to meeting the Green Center's goal of increasing the presence of decoratiue arts in the museum,

it will

continue Professor

McCutchen's effo'rts to educate and inspire artists at the Uniuersity

of Georgia. The museum would like to acknouledge the generosity of the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation, the Friends of the Museum,

Mr. Louis T. Griffith, Ms. Leila

G.

Allen, and Ms. Anne Thomas.

ASHLEY CALI-A,HAN CURATOR OF DECORATIVE ARTS

COVER

PRECEDING PAGE

Round Plate, n.d.

Earl McCutchen holding

Glass, iron filings I r/4 x l0 (diameter) inches

a slumped boutl, n.d..

Image courtesy of

Collection of Mary McCutchen

Mary McCutchen

FOLLOWING PAGE Earl McCutchen, n.d.

Image courtesy of

Mary McCutchen

Eax.r IVIcCt"rrCF{EN (rgr8-r985) was an artist, a craftsman, an

educator, and a scholar. He approached ceramics and glass

with an interest in their chemical properties, their aesthetic possibilities, and their potential

for engaging the minds and talents of his students. His efforts played a significant role in the development of the department

of art at the University of Georgia, and his artistic experimentations

helped push the boundaries of stirdio production. \..-\'--.,''.

McCutchen was boritn"[da

..)aqi., \. \ engineering at Iowa State Grove, Iowa, and studied

\

University from 1936 to 1939.

He attended The Ohio

l

State /

University from 1939 :until l9*{, when he received his B.EA. In "19!p--he-reeeiV6d

his M.A. in

ceramic art from The Ohio State

University, which is located in

a

region where ceramics technology is important to the economy and

which is known for producing graduates who have played significant roles in ceramics education and production.I From 1942 to 1945, after a brief time in Georgia, McCutchen returned to the area and worked as a research engineer at The Ohio State University Research Foundation.

o3

In

1941 McCutchen established

the first university ceramics department in the southeast at

the University of Georgia. He later recalled that to his knowledge there was, at the time,

"no

full-fledged ceramics department

in any college south of Columbus, Ohio."2 McCutchen worked as l.

Decanter, 1948

an instructor at the University of

Earthenware

ll x

5r7a

Georgia from

(diameter) inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

l94I to 1942, an

assistant professor from 1945 to 1955, an associate professor from

to 1963, and a professor 1963 until 1983, when he I97I he was named an reti 1955

Alumni Fouri

o4

g Distinguished

2. Earl McCutchen on WGTV, 1948 Image courtesy of Mary McCutchen

Professor, and

in

a vacuum, that he must understand

1984 the

universityt Board of Regents named him an Alumni

his social and cultural milieu,

Foundation Distinguished

McCutchen explained that the

Professor Emeritus of

finances, even world affairs."

Art.

function of a teacher was to

Georgia, McCutchen sought

in which students could explore their own ideas, and that in his case, he wanted his students to "find

to provide a curriculum in which

themselves in clay and reflect

students would develop "creative

their own environment in clay."5

create an environment

In organizing the

ceramics

department at the University of

independence and profession capabilities as producin g aylists,

McCutchen was interested

designers, and schola

particularly in the science behind his craft, especially as it concerned

t gets his

glazes.

tends to see. But we try

In

an article

to show him he's not working

1944 he published

in

The Journal of the

American Ceramics Society on

o5

3. Set of Mugs, 1950

Earthenware

Approximately 5 x 41.14 x 3:7+ inches each Georgia Museum of Ar1, University of Georgia; gift of Daniel A. Huff cMoA 2001.196-203

strontium (an alkaline earth metal)

McCutchent educational activities

and its properties in glazes.6

beyond the classroom were exten-

In the summer of 1949, he worked as an instructor of glaze work at the School for American Craftsmen in Alfred, New York. Andy Nasisse,

sive and indicate a strong passion

chair of the ceramics department

oflen taught courses outside of

at the Lamar Dodd School of Art

the university, and juried many

at the University of Georgia, noted

regional exhibitions. From 1952

that McCutchen's "glaze calcula-

tion class was notorious as a

to 1953, after receiving one of the first Sara Moss Fellowships at

place where professor and student

the university, he traveled to

told anecdotes about eutectics, quartz inversion, genealogy . . ." and major figures in the field

Florence, Italy, where he conducted

for his craft, for teaching, and for learning. He served on numerous committees at the university,

advanced study in ceramics at

the lnstitute of Art.

of ceramics.T

In

1960 McCutchen worked

with

the university's television station,

4. Lidded casserole dish, 1957 Stoneware 6t12 x ll s/a (diameter) inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

WGTV to develop a thirteen-

McCutchen's early works in clay

episode series entitled About

are generally small, turned,

Ceramics, which he both wrote

functional vessels with controlled,

and presented, and through which

primarily linear surface decora-

he demonstrated techniques used

tions. His works from the I950s

by potters

(see Figure

z).ln196l

and 1960s often feature surface

the National Educational Television

decorations that reflect the quick,

and Radio Center carried a second

gestural markings of the Abstract

titled

Expressionists, as seen in Figures

About Ceramics, which was pre-

3 and 4. The works he created in

series of six programs, also

sented across the country for over decade.s From 1961

a

to 1964,he

Italy, inclu ding Figure 5, show

a

markedly different palette and

served as a representative to the

texture than his other works,

Southeast Regional Assembly of the

possibly because of the different

American Craft Council, and then

materials available there and the

from i965 to 1968, he served

as a

different environment. McCutchen's

craftsman-trustee on the board of

Iater works, such as Figure 6, were

the American Craft Council.

often larger, hand-built, unglazed

{.* t

.E

5-Yq*, l!Ii)

Erttcrsc LOtl+t'Itpt 3ryr;rrs ConFrEr

d[ry

XcQrtcheu

6. Vase, rd,.

Stoneware

l2tl2 x

17 rl4

x

7s7a inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

o8

objects with rough surface textures. He noted changes in ceramics

production late in his career: "There is more sculptural use of clay, less pot-making . . . Ceramics is now more of an art in which each piece is embodied with an idea, not just a function."e

Around 1950, McCutchen began experimenting with glass, utilizing both his knowledge of clay bodies to create molds and his ceramics pro-

duction equipment to heat the glass. In an article he wrote for Craft Horizons

in

1955, he noted that

it is possible "to carry on a limited kind

of glass molding in any studio that is adequately equipped for fundamental ceramic activities."l0 The glass working techniques McCutchen

in which glass is heated until it bends, often to fit a mold, without noticeable difference in the thickness of a cross section of the glass), fusing (a process in which compatible sheets used included slumping (a process

of glass or other vitreous materials are heated until they bond chemically), and laminating (a process

in which materials are fused between layers

of glass).

Consistent with his desire to explore the various properties of clays and glazes was McCutchen's interest

in learning to combine successfully

a

variety of materials in his slumped and laminated glass objects. Though

it is difficult to determine who first experimented with these techniques in postwar America, the artists at the forefront of the field were Earl McCutchen, Maurice Heaton (American, b. Switzerland, 1900-I990), and Frances and Michael Higgins (American, b.

l9l2

and American,

b. England, I908-1999). Frances Higgins, who along with her husband made a lifelong career of producing this type of glass, taught at the

University of Georgia in the I940s and was a friend of McCutchen's.

An article in Craft Horizons in I960 discussing the historical influences and socio-economic conditions affecting the growing popularity of glass as an art medium noted that the processes used by McCutchen,

Heaton, and the Higginses had been employed for years in making

curved automobile windshields.ll The article's author, Paul Perrot of

o9

the Corning Museum of Glass

where glass of all varieties of

in Corning, New York, wrote, "Through [the artists'] efforts

thickness, texture and color

a new dimension has been given

[could] be found in abundance," and added that "in addition to

to glass, and the contemporary

the very low cost of such scrap is

scene has been made

brighter

with the countless variations and fantasies which they have

the advantage of unusual fired properties that are unobtainable when new glass is employed."I3

produced."12 Perrot noted that these artists benefited from

Rather than use commercial glass

contemporary technology's ability

that would have resulted in easily

to produce pure and consistent

controlled reactions and consistent

materials, such as glass of different

objects, McCutchen sought the

colors that could be fused together

unexpected results of using found

successfully. (Glass cools at various

materials. McCutchen's enthusiasm

rates depending on its chemical

for both the artistry and the

composition, making

it difficult to

science of these experimentations,

combine different types of glass

and his desire to encourage other

without breakage.)

artists, is conveyed though this statement from his article on glass

McCutchen, however, often used

molding: "To an artist who brings

antique glass or scrap glass and

invention and studious insight

combined it with a variety of

to this method of molding glass, it

materials including copper screen,

offers an endless variety of orna-

aluminum screen, chicken wire,

mental possibilities. This article

metal foils, iron filings, colored

can do little more than suggest

frit (small particles of glass), and paper. His success with these

It remains for others to try them in the light

disparate materials involved both

of their own ideas, and to add to

an understanding of chemical

the experimental vocab ulary." t+

some of the possibilities.

reactions and the patience to overcome many unsuccessful

McCutchen's works in glass

attempts. McCutchen noted that

primarily took the form of func-

"an excellent source of flat glass

tional objects, usually shallow

for experimentation [was] a junk yard or glass and mirror shop,

bowls or plates-shapes that lend themselves easily to formation

7. Round plate, n.d.

foil, glaze x 9 il4 (diameter) inches

Glass, aluminum

tl2

Collection of Mary McCutchen

8. Square plate, n.d.

Glass, aluminum

lTlsx l4tls x

foil, paper, glaze

14r7z inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

9. Round plate with butterlTy motif, n.d.

Glass, aluminum screen, iron wire, glaze, aluminum z1+ x l0 (diameter) inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

foil, paper

l

I

I I

I

I r

":t.

. r

,"{ ,.

ti:,r

I

'1

{

:' .r:

I !

.:

:,

1

I 1

I

l i

I0.

Vase, n.d.

Glass 6314

x 27ls (diameter) inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

-l

with

to clay molds. Through the use

were produced in glass factories.

of multiple sheets of glass,

All of the individually produced

McCutchen created works

objects were made through the

with unusual visual depth.

',,r

:

,

,

studio craftsmen; the majority

sheets of glass conforming

slumping and laminating processes.

The

third national

and opaque materials within the

conference of the American Crafts

layers of glass further enhanced

Council in Lake George, New York,

the visual complexity of the

McCutchen served with Frances

works. McCutchen's early slumped

and Michael Higgins and Paul

and laminated objects include

Perrot on a panel discussing the

both striking geometric compo-

artistic potential of glass. Harvey

sitions, as in Figure 7, in which

Littleton (American, b. 1922), who

he carefully controlled the forma-

chaired the panel, proposed that

tion of bubbles in a grid pattern,

artists should begin to explore hot glass techniques (glassblowing).

that suggest

The members of the panel chal-

. Colkges, aq:in,:lFzgure 8. McCutchen

also created a number of plates

lenged Littleton to do so, and in

and bowls with butterfly motifs,

1962,

iuch

a

s Fryytre 9. He often

a groundbreaking

Ohio, Littleton effectively

elements such as aluminum foil

papgl so transformed by the firing process ihat'they are virtually unreQognizable in the

with

glassblowing seminar in Toledo,

included

r'-.and

'

1959, at the

AIso

,,'2nd abStiact works

,

in

juxtaposition of transparent

:

initiated the studio glass move-, ment. In 1963 he introduced the first hot glass classes into

university curriculum. Around

finjshed obiects. Experimentation

a

was a key element in his glass,

I965 McCutchen developed

which resulted both in Iimited

hot glass classes at the University

production and in unique objects.

of Georgia,,,

In

untit,:thg:,i ooos,, att gtassblowing

1959 McCutchen's

work was

took place in factories, but as tech-

included in the landmark exhibi-

tion G/ass

59:

A

"

nology' evoived, indlviduals were

Contemporat))

able to create small furnaces

WorLdwide Suruey at the Corning

and

i"

Museum of Glass.In this exhibition less than ten percent of the objects

produils were' produced through'

were produced by individual

mass manufacturing techniques,

r3

.

:''

the craft of glassblowing opened to the art world. In I968 McCutchen stated, "Glass work can almost become a piece of sculpture...We don't

worry about function...the factories take care of that...we are free to create any form we desire. The need for this art is aesthetic and not economic. Beauty and usefulness is not, however, an either or proposition. Art can serve both purposes."ls ln 1967 a writer for Craft Horizonsnoted that McCutchen's work with glassblorving \\'as "a natural have to

extension of his award-winning rvork in l2minated and molded qlass," and described his nerv rtork "botties. borr-ls.:nd r-ases " - - bXonn i:io

irregular, curving shapes rrith flort1ng Prorutlennces isine trom lhe bases and doubling the surfaces to create faceted light effects"":' McCutchen's blown glass, such as Figure /0, closely resembles the initial

works created by other early artists experimenting with this technique.

His blown glass objects capitalize on the fluidity of the glass and the forms it naturally takes when worked in a molten state, a marked contrast to his slumped and laminated works' When McCutchen first began experimenting with glass he wrote, "Just as different painting techniques offer their various and peculiar advantages to the painter, so the several ways of working r,vith glass

present unique qualities."IT Mccutchen's work with ceramics remained strong throughout his career, and as a ceramics instructor, he played

in the development of art education at the University of Georgia. As an artist working with glass, Mccutchen was at the forefront of his field. He adopted the material years before it became

a significant role

popular with individual studio craftsmen, constantly experimented with innovative laminating techniques, and created a remarkable and

distinctive body of work. Though the slumping and laminating glass processes are largely overshadowed today by the subsequent studio glass movement, which focuses on glassblowing, McCutchen's role as a pioneer is an

important element in the history of glass in America.

ASHLEY CALLAHAN

r4

Norrs l.

Charles Counts, "Introduction," in Continuity and Change: Three Generations American Potters lexh. cat., Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art] f.Loretto,

Pennsylvania, 1982), n.p.

Roger Bonham and Roy Overcast, "The University of Georgia," Ceramics Monthly 2a (May 1976), 44.

Bonham 1976,44.

4.

5.

6.

g.

lo.

tl.

14.

15.

I6.

t7

Bonham 1976,46.

of

CnncrrrsT oF THx ExnrBrrroN l.

Lamar Dodd (American, 1909-1996)

8.

Earl McCutchen

Portrait of Earl McCutchen, 1945

Set of mugs, l95O

Oil on canvas

Earthenware

2I

x

25 r1z inches (frame)

x

19 r7z

r1z

Approximately 5 x

inches (sight) Collection of Mary McCutchen I5

s7a

4z1a

x

3r7a

inches each

Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; gift of Daniel A. Huff

cMoA 2001.196-203 2. Earl McCutchen (American, 1918-1985)

9.

Vase,194I Porcelain

x

4t1s

Earl McCutchen Bird- shaped.

5t1a

(diameter) inches

u e s sel, 19

52

Earthenware

Collection of Mary McCutchen

6 t1+

x

x

14 t 1z

4 r7z inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

l.

Earl McCutchen Pitcher, 1942

10. Earl McCutchen

Earthenware

Vase, 1953

4t1+x6x4rTainches Collection of Mary McCutchen

Earthenware lOtl+

x

7

t1z

x

3 t1z

inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen 4. Earl McCutchen

Bowl, 1942

11. Earl McCutchen

Earthenware 3

r1a

Vase, L953

x 9 (diameter) inches

Earthenware

Collection of Mary McCutchen

11 s7s

x

6z1a

x

3s1e

inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen 5. Earl McCutchen

Bowl, L948

12. Earl McCutchen

Stoneware

Wine bottle, 1957 Earthenware

5s1tx14x9r7zinches

lltlt x 3 i7z (diameter)

Collection of Mary McCutchen

inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen 6. Earl McCutchen

Decanter,1948

ll.

Earthenware

LI x

5t1+

(diameter) inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen 7. Earl McCutchen Lidded uessel, n.d.

Stoneware 10r7a

x

6r7a

(diameter) inches

Collection of Mary McCutchen

,4.

22. Earl McCutchen

i1. Earl McCutchen Vase,

n.d'.

Stoneware 8r7e x l3r7z x 5r7a inches

Round PLate, n.d.

Glass, coPPer screen, glaze

(diameter) inches Collection of MarY McCutchen

Collection of MarY McCutchen

'

n.d. .I

Vase,

,-

Glass, aluminum

Stoneware l2r1z x'17

11+

i

7Ya

rl2

inches '

24..

17. EarlMcCutchen Vase, n.d.

1211+

inches

L4t 1a x l4t 1z inches

Rectangular Plate, n'd' Glass, coPPer screen, PaPer,

aluminum foil, glaze 8t1z

x

x

15

t1z

(diameter) inches

Collection of MarY McCutchen

10274

2s1z

x

15:,1t (diameter) inches

Collection of MarY McCutchen 26. EarlMcCutchen

19. EarI McCutchen

x

2s1z

Glass, PaPer, aluminum screen

Collection of MarY McCutchen

t1t

EarlMcCutchen Round bowl, n.d.

Round bowl, n.d-

Square Plate, n.d.

GIass, glaze

x

9:7a (diameter) inches

21. EarlMcCutchen

18. Earl McCutchen

s1z

glaze

Glass

Collection of MarY McCutchen

I

x

foil,

Collection of MarY McCutchen

Collection of Mary McCritchen

Stoneware 28 x l2t1z x

9t1s

21. Earl McCutchen Round Plate, n.d.

16. Earl McCutchen

"

x

t1z

inches

Round bowl, n.dGlass, paper, aluminum foil, copper screen' glaze 2r1+ x L5 (diameter) inches

Collection of MarY McCutchen

Collection of MarY McCutchen 27. F;arl McCutchen Square bowl, n.d.

20. Earl McCutchen Square Plate, n.d.

Glass, aluminum foil, PaPer, glaze

ltla x

L4t1*

x

l4r1z inches

Glass, glaze 421+

x

LO t1+

x

10;7s inches

Collection of MarY McCutchen

Collection of MarY McCutchen 28. Earl McCutchen Square botul, n.d'

21. Earl McCutchen

Glass, glaze

Round Plate, n.dGiass, iron filings 1r7a

x I0 (diameter)

l718x8x7 inches

Collection of MarY McCutchen

518

inches

Coilection of Marv McCutchen

Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is prouided by the W. Neutton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The Council is a partner agency of the

National Endoutment for the Arts. Indiuiduals, foundations, and corporations prouide additional support through their gifts to the Uniuersity of Georgia Foundation. This exhibition is generously sponsored by the W. Neuton Morcis Charitable Foundation, the Friends of the Museum, and by benefactors Mr. Louis T. Grffith and Ms. Leila G. Allen.

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