Maija Grotell
Maija Grotell (Finish-American, 1899-1973) Collection currently available at the Michigan Art Gallery.
Born in Finland in 1899, Grotell graduated from the Central School of Industrial Design in Helsingfors, Finland, then undertook six years (1920-1926) of postgraduate study under Albert W. Finch, one of Europe's foremost ceramicists. She emigrated to the United States in 1927 and settled first in New York City, where she taught at the Henry Street Craft School (1928-1929), and later at Rutgers University in New Jersey (1936-1938). She joined the faculty at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1938 as head of the Ceramics Department, a position she held until her retirement in 1966.
Grotell was a major figure in the American crafts renaissance. Like her mentor, Finch, she strove to lift ceramics above the level of mere production of pottery. In her own work she emphasized artistic expression rather than function, and throughout her career was actively engaged in research on glazes. Recognized for their simplicity and monumentality, Grotell's works display a wide range of colors and textures, often incorporating incised abstract motifs based on organic sources.
She won many prizes for her work, including the Charles Fergus Binns medal from Alfred University in 1961. Among her original discoveries was the use of chromium and iron in place of uranium to produce an orange coloration. Her students at Cranbrook included Susanne Stephenson, Toshiko Takaezu, John Glick, and Richard DeVore.
Her works remain in the permanent collections of Alfred University, AIC, Cleveland Museum of Art, CAAM, Detroit Institute of Arts, Everson Museum of Art, KIA, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, Toledo Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, Wichita Art Association, MOMA and more.
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