HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Waylande Gregory, one of the leading ceramists of the 20th century, is known internationally for influencing the direction of figurative art in the field of ceramics that enabled the creation of monumentally scaled sculptures as well as for his enduring limited editions of decorative ceramics from the 1940's and 1950's. He is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking sculptures that dominated the 1939 New York World's Fair. With over 170 solo exhibitions in 11 countries, his work is represented in the Metropolitan Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution and has been recognized with a long and distinguished list of awards and prizes, both domestically and internationally.
DESIGN LEGACY
Gregory's prolific career spanned a period of five decades as he mastered a wide spectrum of disciplines and decorative styles. His aesthetic transformed the decorative ceramic movement with iconic imagery influenced by nature, abstract and geometric motifs further defined by his dynamic sense of line, form and color. These hand-made, hand-thrown and hand-detailed objects of art became hugely successful spanning the periods of Art Deco, Hollywood Glamour and into the 1950's modernist movement. His brilliant and elegant combinations of rich matte glazes, 22k gold and unique color palette illustrate Gregory's success in defining an aesthetic uniquely his own and one that is strikingly modern today.
