The Potter’s Canvas: Ceramics and Painting in the 20th Century - Hatton Gallery

This exhibition looks at how 20th-century British ceramicists used drawing, painting and mark-making to transform the surface of clay.

While often regarded as a sculptural medium, many artists also saw clay as their canvas. Pioneer studio potters used minimal, elegant brushwork to enhance form but, as the 20th century progressed, decoration took on new significance, becoming an important part of the making process and a way to convey ideas and subvert expectations. By pairing ceramics from the Shipley Art Gallery with paintings and prints from the Hatton Gallery for the first time, the exhibition examines how the worlds of ceramics and painting shaped each other.

The exhibition features over 70 works, highlighting the exceptional quality and range of the Shipley’s collections with ceramics by Bernard Leach, Michael Cardew, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, James Tower, Gordon Baldwin, Carol McNicoll, Alison Britton, Stephen Dixon and Philip Eglin, alongside paintings and prints from the Hatton’s collection by Patrick Heron, William Scott, Adrian Heath and Victor Pasmore. The exhibition will include key works on loan from the Laing Art Gallery such as a vase by Elizabeth Fritsch and a still life by Winifred Nicholson.

Image: Boursa by James Tower, 1984, earthenware with tin-glaze. Shipley Art Gallery, purchased with funding from Northern Arts.