Dean Schwarz - Ceramic Art

Ceramic Art

Since the 1960s, Schwarz has been primarily known as an innovative ceramic artist, whose output is prolific. His work is represented in numerous private collections, and in the holdings of museums and universities throughout the world, including, among many others, the Museum of Art and Culture (Wu Han, Hubei, China), University of Nottingham (Nottingham, England), Collection of King Olaf (Oslo, Norway), Pottery Museum (Mikawachi, Japan), Burg Giebichenstein (Halle, Germany) and the White House Collection (Washington, D.C.).

In recent years, after a back injury, Schwarz has had to restrict his activities in the creation of wheel-thrown pottery. The large pots that he now creates are the collaborative effort of himself and his son, Gunnar Schwarz, in which the latter does the wheel-throwing, while Dean Schwarz designs the pots’ surfaces and applies the glazes. In 2007, their work was featured in a large retrospective exhibition of Schwarz pottery (along with representative works by Marguerite Wildehain), titled Dean and Gunnar Schwarz: Pottery Form and Inherent Expression, at the Gallery of Art at the University of Northern Iowa (Schwarz’s alma mater).