June Schwarcz (''née'' June Morris, June 10, 1918 in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

– August 2, 2015) was an American enamel artist who created tactile, expressive objects by applying technical mastery of her medium to vessel forms and plaques, which she considers non-functional sculpture.

Biography

Schwarcz studied industrial design at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

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from 1939 to 1941 and afterward created packages, greeting cards, textiles, and window displays in New York. In 1943 she married Leroy Schwarcz, an engineer whose work necessitated several moves. While visiting Denver en route to Sausalito in 1954, Schwarcz was introduced to enameling. She began creating enamels with pre-made metal forms but soon began pounding out her own, developing an expertise in the base-taille technique. When she moved to

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, Connecticut, in 1955, Schwarcz travelled to New York City to see examples of contemporary enamel. The curator of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts included her work in the museum's inaugural exhibition, ''Craftsmanship in a Changing World'' (1956), establishing her reputation. When Schwarcz moved to La Jolla later that year, she showed with the ''Allied Craftsmen of San Diego'' and received her first solo exhibition at the La Jolla Art Center (1957). That same year she returned to

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

. Beginning in 1962, Schwarcz used electroplating and electroforming to create more dramatic textures and varied shapes. Her innovative use of copper foil and mesh, which she started using in 1964, enables her to fold, cut, gather, and stitch to create unique, dynamic forms. Designated a Living Treasure of California in 1985, Schwarcz also received the James Renwick Alliance Masters of the Medium Award (2009). Since the late 1950s her work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and has been the subject of solo shows at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art (1998), the Mingel International Museum in San Diego (2009–10), and the Renwick Gallery of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

Her work is in the permanent collection o
The Cleveland Museum of Art
the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

, among others.

Biography

References

Further reading