Edwin Scheier
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| Edwin Scheier | |
| Birth name | Edwin Scheier |
| Born | 1910 The Bronx, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Field | Pottery |
| Training | Self-trained, free seminars at Cooper Union |
Edwin Scheier (born 1910 in New York City, USA) is an American artist, best known for his ceramic works with his wife, Mary Goldsmith.
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[edit] Early life
Edwin Scheier was born in The Bronx, New York, to a Jewish German immigrant father, and an American mother. Scheier's father died shortly after his son's birth. Although his mother remarried, Scheier was left to his own devices, and dropped out of school before high school, in order to make a living. During The Depression, he criss-crossed the nation before returning to New York City.
Although never formally trained, Scheier attended free seminars at Cooper Union, and also worked for a silversmith and a ceramicist. He often examined works in the city's museums, and first, and briefly, met his future wife, Mary Goldsmith, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A period as a public puppeteer led him to take a position teaching crafts through the WPA. This led to other positions in the WPA, and is was through one of these, as a field supervisor of craft programs, that he again met Goldsmith, who was directing a ceramics studio in Virginia. They married shortly after, resigned their posts with the WPA, and after a short period as itinerant puppeteers, established a partnership as fine ceramicists.[1][2]
[edit] New Hampshire
As the Scheiers learned to collaborate, with Edwin's sculptural work being bonded to Mary's thrown works, their reputations grew. They received an offer to take positions at the University of New Hampshire, where Mary became Artist-in-Residence. The couple taught there for over 20 years before moving to Mexico to study Oaxacan indian arts and crafts.
[edit] Oaxaca
Scheier and Goldsmith spent most of the 1960s in Oaxaca[3]. They examined, studied, and learned the techniques of the Zapotec peoples in weaving, painting, sculpture and pottery. Many of Edwin's themes are enhanced in these mediums by the play of positive and negative space.
[edit] Later life
After years in Oaxaca, the Scheiers returned to the U.S., settling in Arizona, where they still reside. Edwin Scheier continues to create works, though due to age and arthritis, he now creates on a Mac computer instead of in a ceramics studio.
Filmmaker Ken Browne examined the lives and works of both Scheier and Goldsmith in his 2000 documentary, Four Hands, One Heart. The film was shown on numerous PBS affiliates.[1]
[edit] Themes and motifs
Scheier and Goldsmith's works often employ symbols for life, birth, and rebirth. The figures applied to the thrown vessels often involve people within people, womb-like, or within animals. Scheier often employs stylistic techniques learned during his time in Oaxaca. The designs they create have been compared to Picasso,[4] and to Paul Klee[5]
Almost 40 pieces of their work are a part of the permanent collection at UNH, and the couple's work is also found in the permanent collection of the Currier Museum of Art.[6] Their works have also been shown at the Newark Museum, Arizona State Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Cranbrook Art Museum.
[edit] References
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Scheier, Edwin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American ceramicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | The Bronx, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
