In the
eorly yeors of Eulota Amos's tenure os o professor in the
University of Georgio s department of ott, her colLeogues included, omong others, Lomar Dodd, Ferdinond Warren, Howord Thomas, ond Horold Westcott. Women were d decided minoity in those days, ond Amos could not hove been but impressed by the occompLishments of this group ond others who come
to the depoftment,
os she did,
Lamor Dodd. Yet Amos wos hordly
ot the behest of its choirmon,
in the shadow of these men. While o grad-
uate student ot )hio Stote University, she had oLreody deveLoped on innovative process for attaching o siLver gLoze to ceronics. Quietly, but with o great deaL
of ossurance, she pefected the technique lnd built up o considerobLe
body of work, oLl the whiLe teoching ond seruing os a model for her students. Yet, becouse she chose to devote herself
to teoching rather thon
to pubLicizing her own work, her career has been negLected in ort-histoicol
literature. This exhibition ond brochure lre 0n ottempt to set the record stroight, or dt tedst to give our oudiences some idea of the totent ond the oiginoLity of this remarkobLe woman.
Ija
Thurlow, the curotor
Museum Studies Progrom
ot the
for this exhibition, is o student in the
Georgia ltluseum of Art; in this way,
Professor Amos has continued to teach in spite of hoving been retired from
the University of
Georgio
for
mony years. Ms. ThurLow hos been
in
chorge
of
ail aspects of this exhibition ond, much to her delight, this responsibility hos included working directly with the aftist in prepoing the checkList
for the of
exhibition. She hos olso hod the good fortune to hove the assistonce
Professor Betty Sheerer, now retired from the Home Economics Depaftment
the University of Georgia. exhibition: Mr.
We ore also
of
groteful to the pivote lenders to the
C. L. l4oreheod Jr. and Michael ond
l|ary Erlanger. They have
entrusted us with pized possessiont because Amos's works hove not been dispersed wideLy in
pivote
coLlections. We oppreciote the JinancioL support
of
Jack ond Jefie Rowlond, who once ogain prove their devotion to the ort ond ortists of Athens ond we ocknowLedge the generous contibution of the Richard A. Florsheim herseLf
ort and for the
@
Aft Fund. Finalty,
we ore most groteful to Eulolo Amos
for continuing to inspire us with the depth of her commitment to her LoveLiness
Wittiam U. Eiland Director Georgia Museum o/Art
of the works thot she has produced.
Eul.ata Amos, 1996
THESE ARE THE THOUGHTS OF
A
POTTER
whose work has been an integraL part of her
and immediately decided to become a potter.
in the
Amos, not knowing then about the grants
dentist's office to buy some ama[gam with sit-
Life since she discovered the medium almost
avai[abte to artists, soLd a[[ her possessions-
fifty years ago.
including her
pottery in her
Amos
sti[[
uses most
of
her
with its beautiful
car-in
order to purchase the
ver in
same manner. Amos rushed out of the
it.
She dritted holes
in a pot to fiLl with
the si[ver, creating the inLay effect she had
materials she would need. During Amos's
been trying to achieve. Arthur Baggs said that
garden in Winterville, Georgia. The bowls hold
senior year of undergraduate work, Lamar
it
food, the vases hold flowers, and the [anterns
Dodd, a professor of art at the University of
coursework, wrote the thesis, and earned her master/s degree from 0hio State.
Large house
was worth a master's thesis, so she did the
tight up the porch. During her twenty-five
Georgia, wrote to one of her teachers asking
years as a potter and ceramics teacher, Amos
for a ceramics instructor, and Amos was rec-
created hundreds of works, and she secured
ommended. Dodd was interested in havinq her
many of Amos's works. For examp[e, the
her ptace in the history of twentieth-century
teach at the University of Georgia, but she
white bowl with two siLver feathers in the
ceramics by discovering a unique siLver gtaz-
wanted to stay at 0hio State. She received
ing technique.
her undergraduate degree
The art
of pottery runs in
Amos's
in 1945 and
began
teaching while working on her maste/s
The silver inLay can be seen on smaLL
bottom (Checklist No. 30) shows how a detaiL can compLeteLy change the character of
a
work. The two feathers, the most striking fea-
famity. Her Pennsylvania Dutch ancestor, John
degree
Leidy, made pottery untiI the onset of the
1945 Amos taught ceramics at the University
immediatety to the inside. The bowl would
Revolutionary War forced him to stop. He
of Georgia and so impressed Dodd that he
sti[[ be a wetl-formed work of pottery without
refused to fight because of his reLigious
sent her letters every Christmas asking when
the siLver because of its smooth white gtaze
beliefs, but he heLped the coLonists as
she woutd return
a
German transtator. 0ne
of his pots is currently
in the collection of the
PhiLadetphia Museum
of Art.
in ceramics. During the summer of
to
Georgia as a permanent
facutty member. She received her M. S. in ceramics
in 1947 and continued teaching at
in Fredericktown, 0hio,
Three teachers at 0hio State
on
and perfect round form, but
it
woutd lack the
character that the feathers give
it. 0n
her
[arge btue ptate with the fish design (Checktist No. 29), Amos uses sitver inLay to
Ohio State. Born
tures of the bow[, draw the viewer's gaze
create an elaborate composition. The fish is
May 29, 1.907, Eu[a[a Amos attended AshLand
inspired her work: Pau[ Bogatay, Arthur
outlined with siLver, and the surrounding
College and began a teaching career immedi-
Baggs, and Edgar Littlefietd. Litttefield was
water patterns are highLighted with sitver
ately thereafter. She taught at
the first person to encourage her interest in
detaiLs. The blue alkatine glaze gives the fish
pottery. Bogatay to[d Amos, a senior at the
a watery setting.
CoLumbia
in Mount Vernon, 0hio, from 1927 to 1938 and served as its principaL from 1938 to
time, about a piece of pottery from Denmark
1943. She also taught art at Mount Vernon
that had
School
siLver inlay
in ceramic g[aze. She
In 1949 Amos surprised
Dodd by
accepting his invitation to teach at the
High Schoot from 1943 until7944. MeanwhiLe,
tried to reproduce the effect by welding siLver
University of Georgia. She began as an assis-
she attended Ohio State University and
to the pottery, but it did not adhere properly.
tant professor,
worked on a B. S. in education.
Soon after, a visit to the dentist for a fiLling
in 1956, and a fu[[ professor in 1966, teach-
provided the solution she needed: she rea[-
ing ceramics, crafts, and art education untiI
A chance visit to the art depart-
if the dentist
ment at 0hio State completety changed her
ized that,
direction in tife. She saw the ceramics studio
with silver, she could filt pottery with silver
cou[d fiL[ her tooth
became an associate professor
her retirement as professor emeritus of art in
1970. During her career her work was inctuded
below: Checkli\t Nunbet 21
in
Amos also thin.ks that potters
severaI important exhibitions, including
the Art League Shows in Columbus, 0hio, and
shouLd not try
the Butler Art
such related media as glasswork and oiL
Show
She showed work
in Youngstown,
in the Fiber, Cloy, and Metol
exhibition series in St. she participated
Ohio.
in the
to achieve the tefinement that
painting achieve because pottery does not
it. "Pottery shoutd
PauL, Minnesota. Later
ca[[ for
DecoroLive
says, "thafs where
it
be earthy," Amos
comes from."
Arts-Ceromics exhibitions in Wichita, Kansas.
Perfection does not necessariLy mean a com-
By this time she was weLlknown and partic-
pLeteLy smooth piece
ipated in invitationa[s at Corne[[ University
classic form. A rough work with a good form
and the Smithsonian. She atso exhibited in
and a compLementary gLaze can be just as
the Ceromic Nationot Exhibition in Syracuse,
pleasing as the most delicatety painted
GaLLery
in St.
PauL as weLL. As her
the touch, such as her lantern (Checklist
career diew to a close, she received the
31) or her
"Woman of the Year in Art" award for
remind the viewer that they are made of
Athens/Ctarke Qoi:nty, Georgia,
a
porcelain. Many of Amos's works are rough to
NewYork. Amos won the Purchase Prize of
the St. Pau[
or an exact replica of
in 1963.
taLL vase (Checklist No.
No.
24). They
ctay, and thus reca[[ the naturaI world from which they came and to which they
ThroLighout her career Amos experimented with several different clays and glazes. The three main categories of pottery
wiLL
eventua[[y return.
prehistoric cave paintings.
The Lantern's form emulates the
it
are earthenware, fired at [ow temperatures;
structure of Chinese and Japanese temp[es:
stoneware, fired at high temperatures; and
is vertica[[y rectangular and its base and top
Amos wishes
that more people
were going into ceramics, but "then there
just be
more starving
artistsl"
porcelain, a speciaL white clav fired at high
extend beyond the main rectangLe. The deco-
wouLd
temperatures. She worked in atl three types
ration on the top resembles bones and
favorite work was atways the one she had just
but believed that porcelain was the most
[eaves, and is simiLar to decorations
ir
Her
finished. However, one of her best-Loved
Eastern temp[es. Amos has an extensive col-
works is the jug that bears the inscription
lection of Asian arl, and here she shows its
stating the relation of clay and fire to
porcelain, and so make more decisions about
influence upon her work. She does not, how-
(Checktist No. 34.) This jug speaks for the
the final appearance of the work. The preva-
evei .relinquish her own style: the roughness
entire medium and, most eLoquently, of
difficutt to controL. Amos preferred to use stoneware: she couLd controL
Lence
it
'
.
better than
of stoneware in this exhibition attests
to her love for the medium.
She does not
have a favorite gLaze, though she enjoyed working with iron. She says that she tried to
"fit the glaze to the pot." The fish with its watery
bLue gtaze,
carefuI p[anning.
pLate,
illustrates her
of the work gives
it
an earthiness, and the
Amos's love
Life
of her art.
holes in iis.surface attest to the potter's skilt because they ie.em
to be natural formations.
fhe dihcing anthropomorphic forms painted on the ta[[...vase show Amos's
Irja J. Thurlow Museum Studies Program
Georgia Museum ofArt
interest in nature. The white dnimals create a stark contrast to the brown clay, simiLar to ALL quatotians are fron an interview of the artist by the author,0ctober 1996.
Note:
1945
Lantern,1969 14 1/2 jnches high Vase,1953
Low bowt,
Sto newa re
Stonewa re
1969
36.
10 1/2 inches high
5 3/4 inches djameter Vase,
5to neware
Sto
18 1/2 inches high
8 inches diameter
Low bowl, 1964
Bowt,
5to
Ea
ewa re
n
37.
6 1/2 inches hjgh
:1951
38.
rthenwa re
Tatl bowt,1946
Earthe nwa re
6 inches diameter
Stoneware wjth satt 6 1/2 inches high
Talt bowt, 1968
Vase,1967
Stonewa re
Sto newa re
10 inches high Coltection of MjchaeL and Mary Erlanger
glaze
39.
hjgh
13 1/2 inches
Vase, n.d. 5to fewa re
Tat[ vase. 1969
5 1/4 inches long
11 1/2 lnches high
Vase,1965
Box for ftowers, 1963
Stoneware
S
6 inches diameter
7'r.res lorg
40.
5 1/4 inches hjgh
to newa re
Vase,:1957 5to newa re
6 1/4 jnches djameter
4 1/2 inches high
Ptate,1961
Vase,196B
Stoneware
5to newa re
9 1/4 jnches diameter
4 1/2 inches hiqh
Low bowt,1966
Vase,1945
Stoneware
Sto
5 1/4 jnches long
4 inches high
Tatl bowt, 1963 Stoneware
Fjsh p[ate with sitver jntay, 1946 Earthenware with atkatine btue giaze
fewa re
6 1/4 inches high
25 1/2 inches diameter
Vase,1963
BowI
Stonewa re
Po
4 1/4 inches long
6 inches diameter
with silver feathers,
1946
rcetai n
Low bowl, 1964
Lantern,1968
Sto newa re
Stoneware
4 inches diameter
14 jnches high
Vase,1970
Vase,1968
5to
Sto newa re
5 1/2 jnches djameter
9 1/4 inches high
Jug with tid,1965
Vase,1969
Stoneware
Sto newa re
5 1/4 inches djameter
8 3/4 inches high
Vase,1968
Vase,1969
4 1/4 inches
Vase,1967 Sto newa re
Sto n ewa re
Sto neware
Large bowt,1961 Earthenware
12 1/2 jnches diameter Coltection of C. L. Morehead Jr.
6 3/4 inches high
ewa re
Spindleshanks, 1969 Sto newa re
Low bowt,1953
n
Vase,1970 Sto neware
ewa re
12 inches diameter
26
Low bowt,1968
5 1/2 inches high
1968
4 3/4 inches diameter
Low bowt,1963 Stoneware
Vase,1945 Porcelajn wjth copper-red glaze 3 3/4 inches hjgh Sto newa re
Vase,1968
n
35.
Vase, Stoneware with satt glaze 3 3/4 inches high
5to newa re
Sto newa re Long
12 3/4 inches hjgh
.h.ve: (hP.klirt Ntnlhat
t1
Performi.ng
and Visuol
Arts
Comp Lex
This exhibition benefits from the generous support of the Richard Florsheim
Art Fund and from the contributions of Director's
members Jack and Jeffie Rowland. PartiaI support for the
tions and programs for the Georgia
Museum
A.
Circle
exhibi-
t,
of Art is provid-
ed by the Georgia CounciI for tl-e Arts through approprial
tions of the Georgia General Assembly and the NationaL
i
i
i
i
Endowment for
the Arts. A portion of the
museum's
generaI operating support for this year has been
pro-
:
vided through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency
that offers general oper-
ating support to the nation's museums. Individuals,
foundations, and corporations provide additiona[ \ support through their gifts
to the
University of
Georgia Foundation. The Georgio Museum of Art's hours ore 10 0,m.
to 5
p.n. \
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdoy, ond"soturday;10 0.m.
to
g
p,m. on Friday; ond 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
ohove: CheckList Number 30 . above right: Checklist Number 2'i\-.