To satisfy the demand for these wares, the Chinese exported ceramics in great numbers to Europe and America from the 1500s through the 1800s. Occidental cultures have long admired the translucent hard-paste porcelains from China. Inset: Banknote painted on bottom interior. Hard-paste porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration. Indeed, the museums own growing collection of Midwest and Upper Mississippi River contemporary pottery is placed in the context of twentieth-century utilitarian and sculptural ceramics through comparison with recently added works by Beatrice Wood, Robert Arneson, and Peter Voulkos.1 Illustrated here are several of the most recent ceramic acquisitions that provide a tour of three centuries of style.2 This vision dovetails with the Institutes commitment to studio pottery and its mission to promote the Twin Cities as the center for contemporary ceramics in the Midwest. The museums interests have further expanded to include the post-World War II movements. One of the most significant recent additions is the Modernism Collection, gift of Norwest Bank, Minnesota, which has provided an opportunity for the Institute to interpret early modern styles from art nouveau to art deco. The vast majority of these objects date from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries and have recently come to the museum through the support of passionate collectors in the Minneapolis and St.

To this end, the Institute continues to develop its collection of ceramics those illustrated here are a selection representing the craftsmanship of the British Isles, Europe, and Asia. Over the past dozen years, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has been actively collecting ceramics that together relay the history of art and design. Home | Articles | Ceramic Craze in Minneapolis

Ireland by Christopher Monkhouse