Rudy Autio Modern Vintage American Seattle Washington Art Studio Pottery Original Archie Bray Foundation Ceramic Sculpture Plate

Original, vintage painted and glazed figurative art plate sculpture, by Rudy Autio, (1926-2007),

Rudy Autio is one of the most masterful and influential artists working with clay in the United States today. Born in Butte, Montana in 1926, Autio has lived in his native state throughout most of his career. He headed the ceramics area at the University of Montana for twenty-eight years and is now retired as Professor Emeritus of the School of Fine Arts. Prior to his appointment at the University of Montana, Autio was a founding resident artist at the Archie Bray Ceramics Foundation in Helena, Montana.

The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts is located near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Helena, Montana, on the grounds of what was once Western Clay Manufacturing Co. brick manufacturing company. Bray, an avid patron of the arts, envisioned an art center and built the Pottery in the spring of 1951, the first step in his dream to "make available for all who are seriously interested in the ceramic arts, a fine place to work."

Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos were the first resident managers of the Bray. The volume and quality of their work drew attention to the new program and attracted many talented and ambitious potters. A landmark workshop in 1952, with potters Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach, and philosopher Soetsu Yanagi, had a profound influence on both Autio and Voulkos. Neither had seen clay treated so loosely and freely. It was an approach which changed their whole attitude towards clay.

Autio received a Tiffany Award in Crafts in 1963, the American Ceramic Society Art Award in 1978, and a National Endowment grant in 1980, enabling him to work and lecture at the Arabia Porcelain Factory and the Applied Arts University in Helsinki, Finland. While there, he was elected honorary member of Ornamo, Finland's Designers organization. In 1981 he was the first recipient of the Governor's Award and named outstanding visual artist in the state of Montana.

He is a Fellow of the American Crafts Council, Honorary member of the National Council of Education in the Ceramic Arts, and recipient of the honorary Doctorate of Art from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. In November 1999 he was awarded the American Craftsman's Gold Medal Award in ceremonies at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C.

While Autio's best known work is figurative ceramic vessels, he has worked in a variety of materials and other media. In addition to commissions in ceramic relief and tile murals, he has worked in bronze, concrete, glass, fabricated metal sculpture, and design of colorful Rya tapestries. Most of these were commissioned for public buildings in the Northwest and one is in Finland



Rudy Autio
(1926-2007)
Archie Bray Foundation
Glazed Terracotta Pottery, Figurative Slip Painting
8.5"X8.5" Square. Corners come upward, and add to size.
Excellent Original Condition
Signed underneath, twice. Signed once along the edge, with the date '98, in glaze; and signed once, on the bottom, into the pottery. Please review all images.

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