introducing RICHARD FAIRBANKS, potter
By remaining within a strict and narrow area of studio practice (handmade functional pottery),
Richard Fairbanks attained the heights of artistic expression
and plumbed the depths of international cultural references.
His oeuvre, here carefully chronicled, proves that great variety
and beauty may be achieved within the humblest and most time-honored forms:
a cup, a pitcher, a plate, a bowl.
Once his body of work is closely examined,
it becomes clear that Fairbanks is among the most important,
if not the most important, potter in the history of the Pacific Northwest.
The work of his Northwest and European peers will be briefly examined to test this judgment;
but considering his unswerving lifetime devotion to the handmade functional clay object,
few artists can match him.
Richard Fairbanks, American Potter 1993 Matthew Kangas, author, University of Washington Press
Assistant Professor of Art Richard Fairbanks
Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 1956-1963
SERVER 1985
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown body with thrown
"spool" handles, red brown glaze isolating "islands"
around iron-rich mineral sand in clay body,
5 x 13 x 10 1/2 in.
American Craft Museum
PLATE 1962
stoneware, C/12-14, thrown and incised,
Fairbanks copper/barium blue glaze on front,
underside brushed with iron oxide stain,
1 1/2 x 12 in. diameter
Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art
Smithsonian Institution
BOWL 1975
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown with carved rim band,
tessha teadust glaze,
underside brushed with iron oxide stain,
19 x 7 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. diameter
Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art
Smithsonian Institution
PLATE 1972
stoneware, C/9 reduction, wheel thrown,
unglazed rim and base with multi-colored bands
of red, blue and brown glazes,
and lid with recessed handle, gray-green matt glaze,
20 in. diameter.
American Craft Museum
BOTTLES 1960
stoneware, C/9-14 reduction, and trimmed,
multiple matt glazes, tallest: 12 x 4 1/2 inches,
Produced at Arabia
Museum of Applied Arts
Helsinki, Finland
BOWL 1975
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown,
thick white underglaze with iron oxide brushwork and magnesia
matt glaze, underside brushed with iron oxide stain, "marimekko" motif,
5 1/2 x 13 in. diameter
Museum of Applied ArtsHelsinki, Finland
COVERED JAR 1960
stoneware, C/14 reduction, chamotte clay, thrown body
and lid with recessed handle, gray-green matt glaze,
7 1/2 x 8 in. diameter Produced at Arabia
Museum of Applied Arts
Helsinki, Finland
TUREEN 1975
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown body and lid
with stroked applied handles, celadon glaze
10 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. diameter
American Craft Museum
"CHECKERWORK PLATE" 1970
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown, white slip with
over glaze washes of brown and tan matt glazes
2 x 14 in. diameter
Tacoma Art Museum
Tacoma, Washington
COVERED JAR 1980
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown body
and lid, 1/10% cobalt matt glaze,
9 x 7 in. diameter
International Museum of Ceramic Art
Alfred University, Alfred, New York
PITCHER 1962
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown and altered,
Fairbanks matt yellow glaze with chrome filings,
underside brushed with iron oxide stain,
8 x 4 inches
Tacoma Art Museum
Tacoma, Washington
BOTTLE 1967
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown,
iron oxide brush strokes under black gloss glaze
9 1/2 x 5 in. diameter
Mills College Art Gallery
Oakland, California
"EFFIGY VESSELS"1972
stoneware, C/9 reduction, thrown body and lid,
pulled and stroked beaks and horns,
iron satuate "gun Metal" glaze,
largest 24 x 11 inches
Museum of Applied Arts
Helsinki, Finland
Over the years I have gone to hundreds of studios, seen work and apprised various situations. Never have I experienced such a situation as you presented me with last Friday. The range and amount of pieces show Richard Fairbanks as a fine artist technically and creatively. He was a man of his time but like all true artists pushed at the boundaries of his time to bring us to the present. The pieces as a body act above any one artist’s work I’ve seen as a collection that is almost encyclopedic of contemporary ceramics executed in the last forty years. Yet with the tributes paid by Richard to other’s work and styles each piece is decidedly his own.
Cale Kinne, Director, Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington September 9, 1992
Summer in Ellensburg selecting work for a California exhibit, 1970's
introducing RICHARD FAIRBANKS, the teacher
Professor of Art, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington 1963-1989
Richard's students were the beneficiaries of inquiry around the world, endless creative trials, critical analysis, and creative inspiration intended to be expressed in his own artistry, but always to be shared and understood.
It was never sufficient to create a magnificent glaze on a beautifully crafted piece. It was essential that he could conceptualize, describe, and discuss this with other artists and, most especially, his students.
The legacy of Richard Fairbanks is shared with us in his pottery and in the work and understanding of his students. Together they form a treasure of accomplishments few achieve.
Donald L. Garrity, President Emeritus of Central Washington University 1989
Mid-1960's Central Washington University ceramic studio.
Early 1980's, La Push, Washington
My eyes are lazy and don't see well.
With my hands I see, and that is good.
I can hold the whole world in my hands
when I am seeing with them a good pot.
Then there is the earth:
dense and hard, yet at one time it grew,
expanded and breathed;
there like seed to stalk to flower to fruit,
it patiently endured the potter's tactile search.
The clay speaks softly but firmly to the potter,
it is not afraid because it will always have the last word,
even if it must atomize itself to return again
and seeks its destiny anew in another's hands.
My hands see the clay and the clay murmers to them
take it easy, you're in good hands.
The dialogue continues and long after that brief communication
when the hands and the clay see each other, they know.
They know.
Richard Fairbanks, unpublished manuscript, undated
HEART PLATE 1984
stoneware, C/9 reduction, wheel thrown body,
multi brown, blue and tan matt glazes with
white slip-trailed decoration,
12 1/2 inch diameter
Collection of Mrs. Richard Fairbanks
Please consider a tax-free financial gift
to support our projects and ultimate goal
of keeping the remarkable ceramic collection and related archive intact
as a public and educational resource.
THANK YOU
THE RICHARD FAIRBANKS AMERICAN POTTER FOUNDATION
501(c)(3)
