Edwin Scheier
Encyclopedia
Edwin Scheier was an American artist
, best known for his ceramic
works with his wife, Mary Scheier
.
, New York
, to a Jewish German immigrant father, and an American mother. Scheier's father died shortly after his son's birth. Although his mother remarried, Scheier was left to his own devices, and dropped out of school before high school, in order to make a living. During the Great Depression
, he criss-crossed the nation before returning to New York City.
Although never formally trained, Scheier attended free seminars at Cooper Union
, and also worked for a silversmith
and a ceramicist. He often examined works in the city's museums, and first, and briefly, met his future wife, Mary Goldsmith, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. A period as a public puppeteer led him to take a position teaching crafts through the WPA
. This led to other positions in the WPA, and it was through one of these roles, as a field supervisor of craft programs, that he again met Mary, who was directing a ceramics studio at the Big Stone Gap Federal Art Gallery in Abingdon, Virginia
. They were married on August 19, 1937, eventually resigned their posts with the WPA, and after a period as itinerant puppeteers, established a long-term partnership as fine ceramicists
.
, where Mary became Artist-in-Residence. The couple taught there for over 20 years before moving to Mexico
to study Oaxaca
n Indian arts and crafts.
During the summer of 1945, the Scheiers were invited to travel to Puerto Rico to train ceramic arts students, for a small pottery that the Puerto Rican government intended to establish. The Scheiers visited briefly, after which an administrator of the Puerto Rican Industrial Development Company, or PRIDECO, traveled in America with Edwin, learning more about the ceramics industry.
. They examined, studied, and learned the techniques of the Zapotec peoples in weaving
, painting
, sculpture, and pottery. Many of Edwin's themes are enhanced in these mediums by the play of positive and negative space.
Scheier and Goldsmith's works often employ symbols for life, birth, and rebirth. The figures applied to the thrown vessels often involve people within people, womb-like, or within animals. Scheier often employs stylistic techniques learned during his time in Oaxaca. The designs they create have been compared to Pablo Picasso
's and Paul Klee
's.
Almost 40 pieces of their work are a part of the permanent collection at UNH, and the couple's work is also found in the permanent collection of the Currier Museum of Art
. Their works have also been shown at the Newark Museum
, Arizona State Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
, and Cranbrook Art Museum.
, Arizona
, where Edwin and Mary resided until their deaths. Until about a year before his death Edwin continued to create art work, though due to age and health, he was then creating "computer paintings" in his studio. The computer paintings came about primarily out of frustration and his deep desire to create. Though his heart would no longer allow him to lift heavy blocks of clay, his mind was still active. On an impulse he went to a computer store, purchased a computer, a color ink jet printer, and a graphical sketch pad - from this he began to create what he would call "computer paintings." As with pottery, his use of the computer was self-taught. Here was a man in his early 90's starting a new artistic method. He did not ask for help, he just did it.
Filmmaker Ken Browne examined the lives and works of the Scheier's in his 2000 documentary, Four Hands, One Heart. The film was shown on numerous PBS
affiliates.
Mary died in May 2007 at 99., Edwin died less than a year later in April 2008 at the age of was 97.
The figures applied to the thrown vessels often involve people within people, womb-like, or within animals. Scheier often utilized stylistic techniques learned during his time in Oaxaca. His designs were often compared to those of Pablo Picasso
and Paul Klee
but ultimately, as a fine artist, they were his own. In 1988, Edward Lebow described Scheier's figure work as showing “the humorous lyrical primitivism of the personal subconscious.”
The Scheiers' work is included in many collections, including the permanent collection of the University of New Hampshire Museum, the Currier Museum of Art
, and the Arizona State University
, Herberger College of the Arts
. Their works have also been shown at the Newark Museum
, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
, and the Cranbrook Art Museum.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, best known for his ceramic
Ceramics (art)
In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...
works with his wife, Mary Scheier
Mary Scheier
Mary Scheier was a noted American ceramicist, and the wife and artistic partner of Edwin Scheier.-Career:Born Mary Goldsmith in Salem, Virginia, she moved to New York City in 1925 and studied art at the Art Students League of New York, the Grand Central School of Art and the New York School of...
.
Early life
Edwin Scheier was born in The BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, to a Jewish German immigrant father, and an American mother. Scheier's father died shortly after his son's birth. Although his mother remarried, Scheier was left to his own devices, and dropped out of school before high school, in order to make a living. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he criss-crossed the nation before returning to New York City.
Although never formally trained, Scheier attended free seminars at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
, and also worked for a silversmith
Silversmith
A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
and a ceramicist. He often examined works in the city's museums, and first, and briefly, met his future wife, Mary Goldsmith, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. A period as a public puppeteer led him to take a position teaching crafts through the WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
. This led to other positions in the WPA, and it was through one of these roles, as a field supervisor of craft programs, that he again met Mary, who was directing a ceramics studio at the Big Stone Gap Federal Art Gallery in Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, USA, 133 miles southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,191 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washington County and is a designated Virginia Historic Landmark...
. They were married on August 19, 1937, eventually resigned their posts with the WPA, and after a period as itinerant puppeteers, established a long-term partnership as fine ceramicists
Studio pottery
Studio pottery is made by modern artists working alone or in small groups, producing unique items of pottery in small quantities, typically with all stages of manufacture carried out by one individual. Much studio pottery is tableware or cookware but an increasing number of studio potters produce...
.
New Hampshire
As the Scheiers learned to collaborate, with Edwin's sculptural work being bonded to Mary's thrown works, their reputations grew. They received an offer to take positions at the University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
, where Mary became Artist-in-Residence. The couple taught there for over 20 years before moving to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to study Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
n Indian arts and crafts.
During the summer of 1945, the Scheiers were invited to travel to Puerto Rico to train ceramic arts students, for a small pottery that the Puerto Rican government intended to establish. The Scheiers visited briefly, after which an administrator of the Puerto Rican Industrial Development Company, or PRIDECO, traveled in America with Edwin, learning more about the ceramics industry.
Oaxaca
The Scheier's spent most of the 1960s in OaxacaOaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
. They examined, studied, and learned the techniques of the Zapotec peoples in weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, sculpture, and pottery. Many of Edwin's themes are enhanced in these mediums by the play of positive and negative space.
Scheier and Goldsmith's works often employ symbols for life, birth, and rebirth. The figures applied to the thrown vessels often involve people within people, womb-like, or within animals. Scheier often employs stylistic techniques learned during his time in Oaxaca. The designs they create have been compared to Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
's and Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
's.
Almost 40 pieces of their work are a part of the permanent collection at UNH, and the couple's work is also found in the permanent collection of the Currier Museum of Art
Currier Museum of Art
The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, O'Keeffe, Calder, Scheier and Goldsmith, John Singer Sargent,...
. Their works have also been shown at the Newark Museum
Newark Museum
The Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
, Arizona State Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...
, and Cranbrook Art Museum.
Later life
After years in Oaxaca, the Scheier's returned to the United States, settling in Green ValleyGreen Valley
Green Valley may refer to:*Green Valley *A feature of the galaxy color-magnitude diagramAustralia* Green Valley, New South Wales, a suburb of SydneyUSA* Green Valley, Arizona* in California:** green technology in Silicon Valley...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, where Edwin and Mary resided until their deaths. Until about a year before his death Edwin continued to create art work, though due to age and health, he was then creating "computer paintings" in his studio. The computer paintings came about primarily out of frustration and his deep desire to create. Though his heart would no longer allow him to lift heavy blocks of clay, his mind was still active. On an impulse he went to a computer store, purchased a computer, a color ink jet printer, and a graphical sketch pad - from this he began to create what he would call "computer paintings." As with pottery, his use of the computer was self-taught. Here was a man in his early 90's starting a new artistic method. He did not ask for help, he just did it.
Filmmaker Ken Browne examined the lives and works of the Scheier's in his 2000 documentary, Four Hands, One Heart. The film was shown on numerous PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
affiliates.
Mary died in May 2007 at 99., Edwin died less than a year later in April 2008 at the age of was 97.
Themes and motifs
Edwin Scheier's work often employed symbols for Adam and Eve, life, birth, and rebirth.The figures applied to the thrown vessels often involve people within people, womb-like, or within animals. Scheier often utilized stylistic techniques learned during his time in Oaxaca. His designs were often compared to those of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
but ultimately, as a fine artist, they were his own. In 1988, Edward Lebow described Scheier's figure work as showing “the humorous lyrical primitivism of the personal subconscious.”
The Scheiers' work is included in many collections, including the permanent collection of the University of New Hampshire Museum, the Currier Museum of Art
Currier Museum of Art
The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, O'Keeffe, Calder, Scheier and Goldsmith, John Singer Sargent,...
, and the Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, Herberger College of the Arts
Herberger College of the Arts
The Katherine K. Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona was created in 2009 by the merger of two existing academic units, the Herberger College of the Arts and the College of Design...
. Their works have also been shown at the Newark Museum
Newark Museum
The Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...
, and the Cranbrook Art Museum.