Looking Forward and Back — Diverging Aesthetics in American Pottery with Adrienne Spinozzi

American art pottery is an overly simplistic name to describe one of the most artistically rich and diverse periods of production in the history of American ceramics. What were the main factors that helped create such a rich diversity of designs? What were the specific influences—both near and far—and how did they inspire, shape, and inform the pottery made at the turn of the 20th century? How did potters respond to or reject tradition during this unprecedented period of artistic and technological growth? 

In this talk, join Adrienne Spinozzi, Assistant Curator of American Decorative Arts, The American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, who presents two dominant trends that had a profound impact on the production of art pottery at this critical time: the embrace and emulation of historical and ancient ceramics, and the contemporaneous design reform movement and art education.