'about ceramics' //

"On Collecting"

Earth, - water, - fire, - these elements have accompanied people for thousands of years. Clay carries the energy and fantasy of human experiences and thoughts, it inspires many artists to always new, extraordinary pieces.

It corresponds to a profound human need: to acquire a deeper knowledge of certain contexts or to fulfil aesthetic ideas by collecting as many similar objects as possible, or to know or even possess as much as possible of a defined area, can become a never-ending urge, influencing one's whole life.

At this point, a brief general look at the contemporary ceramic scene:

After the Second World War - to start here - there were the potters who made tableware for everyday use, and who had to meet a great need, because there was a shortage of everything. They created simple, functional shapes without any further artistic pretensions.

Later, at the beginning of the 1960s, the so-called "studio pottery" developed from England, initiated by Bernhard Leach and Soji Hamada. It meant a detachment from the pure usability of the pieces and a stronger turn towards freer, sculptural forms. This movement was taken up and continued with great enthusiasm by many artistically ambitious ceramicists. A division developed between potters, who continued to make their dishes, and ceramists, who increasingly developed new, artistic forms of expression, albeit with many mixed forms. Only a few outstanding ceramists could afford to leave their tableware production altogether and switch to one-of-a-kind ceramics and make a living from it. This development was also enthusiastically received by the public, by buyers, and ceramics experienced a veritable boom until well into the 1980s. There were numerous ceramic personalities who developed their own unmistakable style, which the connoisseur can identify and classify at a glance, just as one recognizes a Cezanne or Chagall at first sight.

There is also a third group of artists who use ceramics as one of several means of artistic expression without seeing themselves as ceramists. In the past, these were such outstanding artists as Picasso, Miro or Tapies, to name just a few well-known names, but also Emil Schumacher, Otto Piene, Tony Cragg or Walter Libuda. For these artists, ceramics is one medium among others with which they create their works of art.

So this is the scene that presents itself to the collector of contemporary ceramics, and it is truly exciting. Finding one's way around requires a precise knowledge of the ceramic scene, but also of contemporary art in general.

In my case, I have been collecting ceramics for about 25 years, it looked like this: I had started to work with clay myself in the early 90s, looked around, visited markets, exhibitions and studios, and noticed with ever widening eyes what an incredible variety, what possibilities there are in this material.

Now every collector collects differently, depending on preferences, previous knowledge and specifications of spatial, familial and also financial nature. Everything that I liked, that appealed to me to acquire, would end in chaos and bankruptcy in the shortest possible time, would go beyond all my possibilities. So I decided to buy only very recent "fresh" ceramics, contemporary. Then came the preferences: more figurative and object-emphasized than pure vessels, more elegant in material, like porcelain and fine stoneware, than coarse fireclay with long wood firings. But in any case original and original in idea and masterly in execution. In other words, innovative contemporary ceramics at the highest level.

The result of this momentous action led to a collection of about 1200 selected pieces from more than 400 ceramic artists from all over the world. I was able to get to know most of them personally, and I have become friends with many of them over the years. One meets at congresses worldwide, but also in Germany, at workshops and symposia, in galleries and museums. And every time you find the most wonderful pieces!

So there will probably always be that one, next, absolutely indispensable piece for my collection.

Hannelore Seiffert, December 2020