Clyde Burt / Palm Springs Modernism

One of my favorite booths at the 2019 Palm Springs Modernism show was the Clyde Burt exhibition by Converso. 

In addition to traditional pottery forms, there were some dynamite abstract wall plaques and sculptural pieces.

That sign hung at Clyde's Ohio pottery studio.

Here's the whole booth.

In a 1966 Ceramics Monthly"...in explaining how he creates his distinctive ceramic wall plaques, Clyde Burt refers to them as "jigsaw puzzles," and there's as much truth as humor in his description. The plaque starts out as a more or less realized design, later is taken apart in pieces, then finally is put back together again."

Clyde Burt (1922-1981) was born in Melrose, Ohio.  He studied at Fort Wayne Art School and the Cape Cod School of Art.  He then worked under Maija Grotell at Cranbrook.  

He then returned to Ohio and worked as a full-time studio potter on his family's 28-acre farm. He then taught at Fort Wayne and Dayton Art Institute, and also participated in craft fairs on the weekends. Burt also participated in many ceramic nationals around the country and had numerous solo exhibitions.

His pieces are included in the permanent collections of the Cranbrook Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts (above, 1955), the G. R. Crocker and Company, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Everson Art Museum and The Smithsonian.