Anonymous Gift to Ohr Museum Shines

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art is pleased to announce it has acquired an important piece of George Edgar Ohr ceramic art pottery from an anonymous donor. According to the museum’s director, Kevin O’Brien, “Although the museum has been fortunate enough to receive gifts of Ohr in the recent past, it’s always a special and rare occasion to receive such a fine example of Ohr’s work.”

The vase stands approximately seven and a half inches high, six inches wide and is about four and a half inches in diameter at the base. Elaborating on the significance and appearance of this piece, O’Brien adds, “Like several of Ohr’s glazed works, this particular vase looks dark brown, until it is illuminated by high intensity light (or sunlight) which transforms the colors of the vase showing magnificent, blazing colors. All George Ohr artworks are great, but the size, modeling and glazes make this piece ‘extra special’.”

Nathen Lytle, the museum’s welcome center manager, noted the vase’s characteristic, delicate “thinness” while Assistant Curator Rhea Miner describes the gift as a “classic, perfect example of the twisted shapes and incredible use of glazes which at first look ordinary but once exposed to sunlight display a brilliant myriad of color.” These are qualities for which Ohr is famous.

The vase will be on display as part of the Ohr permanent collection.

For more information about this donation or the work of George Edgar Ohr, please contact the museum’s director, Kevin O’Brien: [email protected] or 228.374.5547 or visit the museum’s website: www.georgeohr.org

Current Exhibitions at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art include Our Love Affair with Baseball (May 10-November 4, 2016), My House: The Pleasant Reed Story, and The Native Guard: A Photographic History of Ship Island’s African American Regiment. The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art is located at 386 Beach Boulevard in Biloxi, Mississippi. The museum is open Monday–Saturday from 10:00 am–5:00 pm.

More information about George Ohr:

“George Ohr (1857-1918) the self-proclaimed ‘Mad Potter of Biloxi’ created a body of ceramic work which defied the aesthetic conventions of 19th century America. Ohr is considered an early leader in the modernist movement and it is his creative spirit which informs the mission of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum. His extraordinary cultural legacy is recognized for its power and integrity and for its important influence on 20th and 21st century art. Ohr’s work was rediscovered in the 1960s and is admired by artists and collectors alike. In May 2009, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York celebrated the opening of the Robert Ellison Art Pottery Collection on the Mezzanine Balcony of the New American Wing prominently featuring selected works by George Ohr. As Ohr had often predicted, his genius was at long last recognized by the world.”

Museum Mission:

“The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art mission is to promote and preserve the unique legacy of Biloxi potter George E. Ohr and the diverse cultural heritage of the Mississippi Gulf Coast; and to exhibit works which exemplify the independent, innovative, and creative spirit of George Ohr, emancipated craftsman Pleasant Reed, and Ohr-O’Keefe Museum architect Frank Gehry. This mission is served through compelling exhibitions and educational experiences viewed from a fresh perspective relevant to our community, the region, and the nation with a strong focus on ceramic arts.”