Descripción
Franz Kriwanek (American, 1920-1994) Mid Century Modern Texas Studio Pottery<br>large vase. 9.75" tall x 7" with with no damage or restorations. Fresh from a<br>local Austin TX estate, most likely made when he was teaching in TX before<br>moving to Silverton.<br><br>Franz Kriwanek (American, 1920-1994). artist, potter, professor and author<br>renown for blending clays and glazes from soils and minerals of the San Juan<br>Mountains near Silverton Colorado. Pottery made from these mixtures is very<br>durable with a distinctive allure. When Germany conquered Czechoslovakia,<br>Kriwanek was forcibly drafted into the German Army. He was then sent to North<br>Africa desert, but one morning when he and the other forced draftees awoke, they<br>were alone. Kriwanek was sent to the Prisoner of War Camp in Clarinda, where he,<br>an artist by trade, began painting again, specifically illustrations of the<br>camp. Once the war was over, he was released and returned to Europe, where he<br>lived in the Netherlands for four years. In fact, Winegardner said a family in<br>Shenandoah sent Kriwanek to the University of Iowa where he could obtain his<br>teaching degree. He then taught in Shenandoah for one year, followed by Mount<br>Pleasant, Iowa.<br><br>In 1948, Franz Kriwanek settled in Sweden to study Sino-Swedish stoneware under<br>the masters Wilhelm Koge and Stig Lindberg. While in Sweden he had 7 one man<br>exhibits.In 1963, He arrived in Texas, taking a position on the art faculty at<br>Texas Tech University. For months after he arrived in West Texas, he sought a<br>clay suitable to stand 2,400 degrees. He found it in a quarry in Snyder, Texas.<br>He believed in using local materials and developed a series of glazes which have<br>cotton gin ashes as they main component. These glazes follow the same traditions<br>of Chinese ash glazes.<br><br>“Franz Kriwanek was born on May 1, 1920 in Worschach, Austria.<br>Winegardner said when Germany conquered Czechoslovakia, Kriwanek was forcibly<br>drafted into the German Army. He was then sent to North Africa desert, but one<br>morning when he and the other forced draftees awoke, they were alone.<br>“The Germans were gone. They had left them in the desert,” said Winegardner.<br>“The first thing they did was surrender.”<br>Kriwanek was sent to the Prisoner of War Camp in Clarinda, where he, an artist<br>by trade, began painting again, specifically illustrations of the camp. Once the<br>war was over, he was released and returned to Europe, where he lived in the<br>Netherlands for four years.<br>“Someone he knew in Clarinda sponsored him and his family to move back to<br>Clarinda,” Winegardner said. “He then moved to Shenandoah and started Kriwanek<br>Pottery and Art School. He was really promoted and supported by people in<br>Shenandoah.”<br>In fact, Winegardner said a family in Shenandoah sent Kriwanek to the University<br>of Iowa where he could obtain his teaching degree. He then taught in Shenandoah<br>for one year, followed by Mount Pleasant, Iowa.<br>“He ended his teaching career as chair of ceramics at the University of Texas at<br>Lubbock,” said Winegardner. “He ended up in Silverton, Colorado with Silverton<br>Mountain Pottery. He passed away in 1994, but his pieces have recently become<br>overly popular.”
