The minute you begin to understand what you’re doing it loses that searching quality. You have to forget about the little technical problems that don’t matter—you’ve overcome them long ago anyway.
Peter Voulkos
Peter Voulkos 1924–2002
Few artists can revolutionize an ancient medium, but Peter Voulkos did just that when he brought ceramics into the realm of fine art starting in the late 1950s. Born in Bozeman, Montana in 1924, he studied painting and ceramics at Montana State University and later received his MFA from California College of the Arts in Oakland. While Voulkos began his career by creating utilitarian objects such as bowls and vases that won him wide renown, he began to contemplate abstraction and other fine art principles when he spent the summer of 1953 teaching at Black Mountain College, there he met Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, and Josef Albers. From there, he visited New York, meeting many of the Abstract Expressionists.
Voulkos returned to California to teach at Los Angeles County Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design) from 1954 to 1959 and it was in this period that his works really began to evolve. As the decade came to a close, Voulkos moved away from creating functional items, instead morphing vase-like structures into sculpture. He slashed the clay in certain instances and aggressively applied paint to the forms like canvas. No longer content to create works that hid their process of creation, Voulkos made the very act of creation paramount to the understanding and appreciation of his work, much like the Abstract Expressionists that he had associated with.
Auction Results Peter Voulkos
Peter Voulkos
Snake River
estimate: $50,000–70,000
result: $250,000
Peter Voulkos
early vase
estimate: $1,500–2,000
result: $3,250
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $9,375
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $5,850
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $8,750
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $6,250
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $5,313
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Stack
estimate: $20,000–30,000
result: $25,000
Peter Voulkos
early vase
estimate: $12,000–16,000
result: $20,000
Peter Voulkos
Bull
estimate: $15,000–20,000
result: $14,375
Peter Voulkos
early vase with figures
estimate: $15,000–20,000
Peter Voulkos
Shogun
estimate: $35,000–45,000
result: $62,500
Peter Voulkos
Early lidded jar
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $4,875
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $8,750
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $10,625
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,500–6,500
result: $10,000
Peter Voulkos
Untitled Plate
estimate: $4,000–6,000
result: $4,800
Peter Voulkos
Rare, large teapot and coffee cup
estimate: $6,000–7,000
Peter Voulkos
Large untitled charger
estimate: $5,000–7,500
result: $7,500
Peter Voulkos
Large untitled charger
estimate: $5,000–7,500
result: $4,688
Peter Voulkos
Large untitled charger
estimate: $5,000–7,500
result: $5,938
Peter Voulkos
Large untitled charger
estimate: $5,000–7,500
result: $4,375
Peter Voulkos
Large untitled charger
estimate: $5,000–7,500
result: $4,688
Peter Voulkos
Important untitled plate
estimate: $10,000–15,000
result: $10,000