Description
This piece and two more I'm listing are from the Estate of Lael Cater Seagert UT Art Department and later Director of Laa Gloria Art Museum here in Austin so these were likely gifts from Soto as they had signed books from so many Texas Artists that were given to them as gifts.
Piece measures 7 5/8" tall x 5.25" wide. No cracks, chips, restorations, or crazing.
Below is an excerpt from the artists eulogy.
Ishmael Soto, longtime Austin ceramicist and teacher, died Monday after a battle with cancer. He was 84.
“Ishmael’s passing is a loss for us all in the community,” said Sylvia Orozco, director of Mexic-Arte Museum. “He was a great human being, teacher and artist. Ishmael was one of the first, if not the first Mexican-American Austinite to become a professional visual artist.”
Artist and teacher Ishmael Soto died Feb. 27 at age 84. Contributed by Tahila Mintz
Soto won many prizes and was exhibited frequently in group and solo shows.
A native Austinite, Soto earned his first degree from the University of Texas and his second from the famed Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. His 57th Annual Potters Show and Sale took place in December 2016. He taught ceramics at UT for seven years — one of the first Hispanics to teach in the art department — then at St. Edward’s University and Austin Community College for a total of more than 30 years..
“He was a modest, generous mentor and major inspiration to many artists,” said his widow, Cynthia Leigh. “He taught thousands of students over his lifetime. Many of his students decided to become artists from his encouragement and support. He did not try to mold his students to imitate his work; he encouraged them to follow their own artistic path and draw on their own talents.
B26
