DOI issue:
No. 365 (August 1923)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21398#0128
STUDIO-TALK
responsibilities inherent in this branch of
applied art; and they give, too, a good idea
of his individuality in matters of design. It
is only recently that he has turned his
attention to ceramic art: previously he
was a caricaturist, drawing for many
Italian and French papers, and at the be-
ginning of the war he started a review, with
the title Numero, to which he contributed a
series of cartoons which advocated the
intervention of Italy on the side of Great
Britain and France. His cartoons brought
him a large measure of popularity as they
had a lively humour and technical merits
which were widely appreciated. 0 0
When he diverged into pottery and por-
celain painting he did not, as might fairly
have been expected, choose to work in the
Italian tradition ; he preferred to study,
instead. Oriental examples and to base his
practice upon Chinese and Persian prece-
dents. At the same time, he did not become
merely a copyist of the potters of these
countries ; he was attracted by their love
of rich colour and by their fertility of
imagination and he enjoyed the quality of
their achievement, but while as far as pos-
sible assimilating their spirit, he sought to
express it in a manner of his own and to
interpret it by the aid of his personal
preferences. In this way he has evolved a
style which is not lacking in originality,
but in which there is no suggestion of aim-
less eccentricity, a vigorous style and full
of vitality; and he has found a direction
in which he can give rein to his decorative
fancies without allowing them to get
beyond control. The things he produces
are not mechanical repetitions of a limited
number of motives; each one is an indepen-
dent creation and each one realises a
separate intention ; all they have in com-
mon is a characteristic freedom and robust-
ness of design. 0000
As evidence of the seriousness with
which he has approached his art it is worth
noting that he has taken pains to make
himself a practical potter as well as an
efficient designer and painter of ceramic
decorations. He has learned the mechanism
of his craft, and he has his own kilns in
which his pottery is fired ; the results he
has attained have been the outcome of
continued experiments which have enabled
him to master the technicalities of the
108
various processes of manufacture and to
work always with a thorough knowledge of
methods of production. His success must
be counted as only a just reward for his
conscientiousness and sincerity. 0 0
The Royal Society of Arts, John Street,
Adelphi, is inaugurating a scheme for the
improvement of industrial designs. The
Society, which for many years has made
awards to students of design, is now in-
creasing its efforts and hopes to hold annual
competitions, and to establish one or more
travelling scholarships. 000
This excellent project should certainly
make for the improvement of British in-
dustrial art, and is the more interesting in
that it emanates from the manufacturers
themselves. 00000
CHINA PLATES WITH PAINTED
DECORATION. DESIGNED
AND EXECUTED BY GOLIA
responsibilities inherent in this branch of
applied art; and they give, too, a good idea
of his individuality in matters of design. It
is only recently that he has turned his
attention to ceramic art: previously he
was a caricaturist, drawing for many
Italian and French papers, and at the be-
ginning of the war he started a review, with
the title Numero, to which he contributed a
series of cartoons which advocated the
intervention of Italy on the side of Great
Britain and France. His cartoons brought
him a large measure of popularity as they
had a lively humour and technical merits
which were widely appreciated. 0 0
When he diverged into pottery and por-
celain painting he did not, as might fairly
have been expected, choose to work in the
Italian tradition ; he preferred to study,
instead. Oriental examples and to base his
practice upon Chinese and Persian prece-
dents. At the same time, he did not become
merely a copyist of the potters of these
countries ; he was attracted by their love
of rich colour and by their fertility of
imagination and he enjoyed the quality of
their achievement, but while as far as pos-
sible assimilating their spirit, he sought to
express it in a manner of his own and to
interpret it by the aid of his personal
preferences. In this way he has evolved a
style which is not lacking in originality,
but in which there is no suggestion of aim-
less eccentricity, a vigorous style and full
of vitality; and he has found a direction
in which he can give rein to his decorative
fancies without allowing them to get
beyond control. The things he produces
are not mechanical repetitions of a limited
number of motives; each one is an indepen-
dent creation and each one realises a
separate intention ; all they have in com-
mon is a characteristic freedom and robust-
ness of design. 0000
As evidence of the seriousness with
which he has approached his art it is worth
noting that he has taken pains to make
himself a practical potter as well as an
efficient designer and painter of ceramic
decorations. He has learned the mechanism
of his craft, and he has his own kilns in
which his pottery is fired ; the results he
has attained have been the outcome of
continued experiments which have enabled
him to master the technicalities of the
108
various processes of manufacture and to
work always with a thorough knowledge of
methods of production. His success must
be counted as only a just reward for his
conscientiousness and sincerity. 0 0
The Royal Society of Arts, John Street,
Adelphi, is inaugurating a scheme for the
improvement of industrial designs. The
Society, which for many years has made
awards to students of design, is now in-
creasing its efforts and hopes to hold annual
competitions, and to establish one or more
travelling scholarships. 000
This excellent project should certainly
make for the improvement of British in-
dustrial art, and is the more interesting in
that it emanates from the manufacturers
themselves. 00000
CHINA PLATES WITH PAINTED
DECORATION. DESIGNED
AND EXECUTED BY GOLIA