A Selection of Pottery by Marguerite Wildenhain

I’ve become very much intrigued by the Bauhaus and how it all started, over time this has helped me discover some interesting places on the internet, one of those being a small design and art blogspot that goes by the name of MONDOBLOGO. I found a great article on there which showcased some of the “women of the Bauhaus”, this led me onto exploring the story behind these creatives.

So when I went hunting for information I was surprised to see the subject being talked about quite heavily on other sites and how the women were under appreciated for their abilities and how a lot of them fell off the map, so to speak. I thought this was a real shame and that maybe I could do my own part to highlight some of the women in the Bauhaus movement that were fantastic designers and produced some amazing work that has stood the test of time.

One of these happened to be Marguerite Wildenhain who was born in Lyon, France, she received her degree as a master-potter after seven years of apprenticeship and study at the Bauhaus in Germany. At Hitler’s rise she fled Germany and eventually settled in the USA at Pond Farm, an artists’ colony near Geurneville, California. Pond Farm Workshops was quite a special place for many artists’, the founders, Gordon and Jane Herr, were inspired by such precedents as the Bauhaus itself, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin and Eliel Saarinen’s Cranbrook Academy of Art, to name a few. They ended up living in quite a sustainable way and following their vision for creativity and a life free of restraints, something I deeply admire.

Today though, I thought I would point out an amazing collection of imagery featuring potter Marguerite Wildenhain and her works, most of which were sourced from the MOMA website. Although Marguerite was sometimes known for her more elaborate styles, some of which are a bit crazy and wacky in my opinion, she also made some great functional pieces that were very much stripped down to their bare essentials. This is the work I am featuring today and also some imagery of her in the workshop which I thought complimented the pottery nicely.

Just look at that top left image shot by Otto Hagel in 1945 for example, Marguerite showing us the motion of hands to make a pot, absolutely genius. I hope you enjoy what I put together above and below, maybe this will inspire you to go and search to find out more about these great creative women!

www.moma.org

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