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Don ReitzNear Miss2013
2013
$7,500
£5,713.54
€6,588.59
CA$10,623.93
A$11,407.44
CHF 6,138.13
MX$134,995.94
NOK 77,329.26
SEK 70,528.60
DKK 49,228.48
About the Item
white stoneware, with slip decoration
b. 1929 – d. 2014
Don Reitz referred to his medium of choice as “dirt.” Simply put, clay is dirt or earth, and “burnt earth” is pottery. He had a childhood fascination with digging in the dirt, building dirt dams, and filling ant holes with dirt only to watch them being re-excavated by the industrious insects. Dirt also served as a handy sketch pad on which to scratch diagrams or maps. Speaking of himself, Reitz said, ‘I am from the dirt as my pots are from the dirt – from the skin of this planet.”
Reitz’s dynamic ceramic surfaces were also determined by the firing of a kiln. Reitz introduced the age-old technique of salt firing, enhanced with a few new tricks. He kept the process alive by varying the way the kiln was stacked, by maintaining a relatively uneven temperature, by adding oil or wood through the burner ports or tossing ashes, chunks of feldspar, or even fruits such as apples or oranges into the fire. The speed of the cooling process offers still another variant, allowing for color value changes or crystal formations in the glaze.
A central theme of Don Reitz’s work was one of pain and transfiguration. Unable to use a potter’s wheel during his recovery from a car accident, Reitz began to paint with slips on slabs of clay rolled out by his students. This unique body of cathartic, story-telling work is replete with child-like drawings of characters and symbols expressing his personal and societal frustration.
Visual communication was Reitz’ special gift. It can be seen in the simplicity of his early utilitarian ware – the angle of a handle or direction of a spout that makes pouring more a celebration than a routine act. And, it can be seen in the complex composition of his mature, massive forms, whose megalithic size and bold construction commemorate the forces of nature.
Don Reitz received many honors and awards throughout his career, including Ceramic Monthly’s “One of twelve greatest living ceramic artists worldwide”; he was the recipient of the Governor’s Award in the Arts in the State of Wisconsin; the Aileen Osborn Webb Gold Medal from the American Crafts Council; the Peter Voulkos Visiting Artist Fellowship, among many others. His work is included in the permanent collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC; Shein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art, Alfred University, Alfred, NY; Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ; as well an many other collections, both public and private.
Don Reitz
Donald Lester Reitz was an American ceramic artist, recognized for inspiring a reemergence of salt glaze pottery in the United States. He was a teacher of ceramic art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1962–88. During this period, he adapted the pottery firing technique developed in the Middle Ages, which involved pouring salt into the pottery kiln during the firing stage. The method was taught in European ceramic art schools, but largely unknown in United States studio pottery.
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