Wright Auction

John Mason was one of the vanguard of ceramists responsible for reshaping the ceramics field in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He studied under Peter Voulkos, and inspired by those teachings along with his own prodigious creative impulses, he carved his own stylistic path.

Unlike Voulkos, Mason eschewed the potting wheel, opting instead to explore clay as a truly sculptural, hands-on medium. He worked on a series of vertical pieces consisting of monumental totems of clay built around a wooden post. As these vertical sculptures evolved, he began to place more importance on form over surface manipulation and the resulting works took shape as multi-arm totems, crosses and X’s. The present work, 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯, is a significant example from this period and perfectly embodies the boundary-pushing nature of the ceramics he was making during this watershed moment in the history of ceramic art.

Now open for bidding at wright20.com

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗿 & 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 • 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟭

𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 • 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗿 & 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 on June 11th presents an exemplary selection of important works by artists whose influence continues to define the discipline. Led by an untitled 1958 sculpture from 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗸𝗼𝘀, highlights include 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻’s 1963 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮, a 𝗧𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗸𝗼 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗲𝘇𝘂 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯, as well as works from 𝗞𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗝𝘂𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗸𝗼, 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘆, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗗𝗼𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗲, 𝗥𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵, 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘇 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗸𝗲𝘀𝘀, and more.

This auction will be preceded by 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗱 & 𝗢𝘁𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘇𝗹𝗲𝗿. Selections from both auctions are now on view at 𝘙𝘢𝘨𝘰/𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘕𝘠𝘊 through June 11th.

Discover the collection → www.wright20.com/auctions/2026/06/post-war-contemporary-ceramics