San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

GEORGE OHR RISING
The Emergence of an American Master

Image left, George Ohr, courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to present George Ohr Rising: The Emergence of an American Master, a traveling exhibit on loan from the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi. This exhibit, featuring the work of visionary potter George Edgar Ohr, accompanies the Museum’s national ceramic competition, with both exhibits opening on April 18 from 6 to 9 pm. Refreshments and music will be on hand and the public is invited to attend.

In the late 1890s this early American art potter broke new groundwhen he began experimenting with modern forms and shapes. George Ohr was born in Biloxi, Mississippi on July 12, 1857 and died in 1918. He first chanced upon hislife’s work when a family friend, Joseph Fortune Meyer, offered George a job working in his New Orleans pottery studio. After learning the basics Ohr embarked on a journey that took him through 16 U.S. states and into Canada, learning all the while about ceramics whenever and wherever he could. After 2 years of traveling to different pottery studios he returned to Biloxi and set up his own shop. Pictured above, Snake Teapot by George Ohr

In 1894 two events occurred which altered the direction of Ohr’s life and work -- The World’s Columbian Exposition which exposed the artist to modernism and the promise of a new century, and a major fire which destroyed downtown Biloxi including the artist’s studio and all his prior work, some 10,000 pieces of pottery. The work he created after the fire shows a distinctive change in his style. He began working in a more expressionistic style, heavily manipulating the clay to evoke the free form of nature. No two pieces were alike and the only thing limiting Ohr’s work from this time was his imagination. Ohr’s glazes were similarly unique and his pots are often recognized for their brilliant glazing.

Calling himself the “Mad Potter of Biloxi,” Ohr created an eccentric persona. A showman in the style of P.T. Barnum, he established an elaborate public relations campaign around his work and pottery studio. He labeled his work “unequaled, undisputed, unrivaled.” Ohr’s work is now seen as ground-breaking, but during his lifetime he was considered a boasting eccentric and was not accepted by his peers on the national art scene. Pictured above, Brashier by George Ohr

Hurricane Katrina struck Biloxi and the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in August 2005, partially destroying a new museum designed by Frank Gehry that was scheduled to open in July 2006. Just as George Ohr, faced with the total destruction of his studio and pottery inventory, began rebuilding within days of the fire, so too the museum has commenced rebuilding, anticipating that the first phase will open in approximately 2 years. The theme of this exhibit ---George Ohr Rising --- is dedicated to the resilience of this American master and to the resilience of the Gulf Coast community.

For more information on the upcoming exhibit please call the museum at 653-3333. The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for senior citizens. Students from Angelo State University and the San Angelo school district are admitted free as well as museum members and active military personnel.

The museum is supported by generous contributions from both individuals and businesses. This project is partially supported by funds from the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, the City of San Angelo, the Texas Commission on the Arts, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.