Georges Jouve

(French, 1910–1964)

Georges Jouve was a French ceramicist considered one of the most important creators in the medium of the 20th century. His work is known for its unique formal techniques and imaginative concepts, often based in Southeastern French potting traditions of ceramic religious objects. Born in 1910 in Fontenay-sous-Bois, France, he went on to study at the prestigious École Boulle in Paris where he learned sculpting techniques and studied art history and art theory. During World War II, the artist was captured by German forces and was able to escape and hide out the rest of the war at a potters’ village in the South of France known as Dieulefit. He then returned to Paris where he opened his own studio in 1944, and went on to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in Paris, the Association Française d'Action Artistique in Rio de Janeiro, and in various exhibitions held in Vienna, Toronto, Rome, Milan, and Cairo. Jouve died in 1964.