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'{{Infobox artist | name = George Edgar Ohr | image = George E Ohr.jpg | image_size = | alt = Portrait Photograph of George Ohr | caption = The "Mad Potter of Biloxi" | birth_date = July 12, 1857 | birth_place = [[Biloxi, Mississippi]], US | death_date = {{death date and age|1918|4|7|1857|7|12}} | death_place = [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], US | nationality = American | spouse = Josephine Gehring | known_for = [[Pottery]] | style = [[Abstract expressionism]] | memorials = [[Ohr-O'Keefe Museum Of Art]] }} [[File:George E. Ohr pottery workshop.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Interior of Ohr's rebuilt workshop, 1901]] '''George Edgar Ohr''' (July 12, 1857&nbsp;–&nbsp;April 7, 1918) was an American [[ceramic]] artist and the self-proclaimed "Mad Potter of Biloxi" in [[Mississippi]].<ref name="Puente1">{{Cite news | last = Puente| first = Maria| title = Storm exacts a cultural toll| newspaper = USA Today |date =October 21, 2005| url = https://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-10-13-katrina-art_x.htm| accessdate = January 21, 2010}}</ref> In recognition of his innovative experimentation with modern clay forms from 1880–1910, some consider him a precursor to the American Abstract-Expressionism movement.<ref name="ArtCyc">{{cite web|title = George E. Ohr art links|publisher = ArtCyclopedia|date = 2008-01-22|url = http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/ohr_george_e.html|accessdate = 2008-05-06 }}</ref> ==Personal life== George Ohr was born in [[Biloxi, Mississippi]], on July 12, 1857. He was the son of German immigrants who arrived in New Orleans c. 1850 and subsequently married and moved to Biloxi. George Ohr tried his hand at various trades before he became interested in ceramics in 1879, while an apprentice of Joseph Fortune Meyer. Ohr married Josephine Gehring of [[New Orleans]] on September 15, 1886. Ten children were born to the Ohrs, but unfortunately only 6 survived to adulthood. George Ohr died of throat cancer on April 7, 1918.<ref name="AskArt">{{cite web|title = George Edgar b. Ohr (1857 - 1918)|publisher = AskArt|url = http://www.askart.com/askart/o/george_edgar_ohr/george_edgar_ohr.aspx|accessdate = May 6, 2008}}</ref> Ohr’s eccentric pottery did not sell well in his lifetime. As his work went unnoticed, unsold, he said, “I have a notion that I am a mistake." Yet he predicted, “When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored, and cherished. It will come.”<ref>{{cite web|title=The Mad Potter of Biloxi|url= https://www.theattic.space/home-page-blogs/2018/4/10/97elan2ddet0pi13exhedzraipqqlr|website=The Attic|accessdate=13 July 2018}}</ref> Ohr studied the potter's trade with Joseph Meyer in New Orleans, a potter whose family hailed from [[Alsace-Lorraine]], as did Ohr's.<ref name="MSart">{{cite web|last = Carr Black|first = Patti|title = George E. Ohr: America’s First Art Potter|publisher = Mississippi Historical Society|date = May 2002|url = http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=30|accessdate = May 6, 2008|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110610222555/http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=30|archivedate = June 10, 2011}}</ref> Ohr's father had established the first [[blacksmith]] shop in [[Biloxi]] and his mother ran an early, popular [[grocery store]] there.<ref name="Collectics">{{cite web|title = George E. Ohr Pottery & Ceramics Information & History|publisher = Collectics Reference & Collector Education|url = http://www.collectics.com/education_ohr.html|accessdate = May 6, 2008}}</ref> In his lifetime, Ohr claimed to have made over 20,000 ceramic pieces.<ref name="MohrOhr2003">{{cite book|author1=Richard D. Mohr|author2=George E. Ohr|title=Pottery, Politics, Art: George Ohr and the Brothers Kirkpatrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXuBucEMRnkC&pg=RA1-PA205|year=2003|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-02789-5|page=1}}</ref> He called his work "unequaled, undisputed, unrivaled."<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web|last = Watson|first = Bruce|title = The Mad Potter of Biloxi|publisher = [[Smithsonian|Smithsonian.com]]|date = February 1, 2004|url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/10012481.html?page=1|accessdate = May 6, 2008}}</ref> In 1884, Ohr exhibited and sold his pottery at the [[World Cotton Centennial|World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition]] in New Orleans.<ref name="odyssey">{{cite web|last = Klein Albertson|first = Karla|title = The Odyssey of George E. Ohr|publisher = Antiques and the Arts Online|date = September 2, 2003|url = http://antiquesandthearts.com/2003-09-02__12-27-05.html&page=2|accessdate = May 6, 2008|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120208093640/http://antiquesandthearts.com/2003-09-02__12-27-05.html%26page%3D2|archivedate = February 8, 2012}}</ref> Of the hundreds of pieces he showed, Ohr boasted he showed "no two alike."<ref name="apostle of individuality">{{cite book|last = Ellison|first = Robert A., Jr.|others = Martin Eidelberg|title = George Ohr, Art Potter. The Apostle of Individuality|publisher = Scala|location = London|year = 2006|isbn = 1-85759-425-8 }}</ref> The 1894 fire that burned most of Biloxi also destroyed Ohr's workshop, and it has been noted that Ohr's post-fire works show tremendous "energy" and "fluidity."<ref name="odyssey" /> George Ohr called his pots "mud babies". Upon the destruction of his workshop and his work, he gathered the pieces that survived the fire, and although burned, he kept each piece, calling them his " burned babies".<ref>(The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr-Eccentric Genius by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan)</ref> ==Work== [[File:Ohr-OKeefeMuseum.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Ohr-O'Keefe Museum's "Pods" by Frank Gehry]] Ohr died largely unknown in 1918. For decades, his pots sat in a garage behind his sons' gas station in Biloxi.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Bruce |title=The Mad Potter of Biloxi |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-mad-potter-of-biloxi-106065115/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |accessdate=14 July 2018 |language=en |date=February 2004}}</ref> Ohr's work is now seen as ground-breaking and a harbinger of the abstract sculpture and pottery that developed in the mid-20th century; his pieces are now relatively rare and highly coveted.<ref name="03auction">{{cite web|last=Antiques and the Arts Editorial Content |title=Record George Ohr Teapot Leads Craftsman Auction |publisher=Antiques and the Arts Online |date=February 11, 2003 |url=http://antiquesandthearts.com/AW0-02-11-2003-12-08-45 |accessdate=May 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706101556/http://antiquesandthearts.com/AW0-02-11-2003-12-08-45 |archivedate=July 6, 2008 }}</ref> A notable feature of Ohr's pottery is its thin walls, metallic glazes, and twisted, pinched shapes; to this day, few potters have been able to replicate them using a pottery wheel, which is how Ohr made his works. Ohr dug much of his clay locally in southern Mississippi from the [[Tchoutacabouffa River]].<ref name="odyssey" /> Tchoutacabouffa is the [[Biloxi tribe]]'s word for "broken pot."<ref name="clairmont">{{cite book|last = McKee|first = Jesse O.|author2 = Velvelyn Blackwell Foster|author3 = Stephen Young|title = Mississippi: The Magnolia State|publisher = Clairmont Press|location = Atlanta|year = 2005|url = http://www.clairmontpress.com/MS05/Textbook/MS%202004%2013.pdf|isbn = 1-56733-125-4|page = 330|display-authors = etal|access-date = 2008-07-02|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090227074904/http://www.clairmontpress.com/MS05/Textbook/MS%202004%2013.pdf|archive-date = 2009-02-27|url-status = dead}}</ref> He called himself the "Mad Potter of Biloxi", groomed himself eccentrically, and inscribed this bawdy poem on the side of some of his pots: "Molly and I were on the beach engaged in nature's folly, The sand was hot upon my back but the sun was hot to Molly."<ref>Rago, David (appraiser), ''Antiques Roadshow'', Dallas, Texas, June 28, 2008</ref> ==Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art== {{unreferenced|section|date=July 2017}} The [[Ohr-O'Keefe Museum Of Art]] in Biloxi has a large permanent collection of Ohr's work. Three buildings of the new campus designed by [[Frank Gehry]] opened to the public on November 8, 2010, with several exhibitions, including a large selection of work by George Ohr. In addition to the Gehry-designed buildings, the Pleasant Reed Interpretive Center is also open to the public. The museum campus was almost partially destroyed during [[Hurricane Katrina]] when a [[Grand Casino Biloxi|casino barge]] was washed onto a nearby estate. Visitors can view the construction that is planned to continue on the western part of the campus, beginning with the Center for Ceramics building, followed by the George E. Ohr "Pods," scheduled to be completed in 2012. From 2007 to 2010 ''Ohr Rising: The Emergence of an American Master'', a major national exhibition of Ohr pottery, traveled to Pomona, California; San Angelo, Texas; Alfred, New York; Toronto, Canada; and the Louisiana State University Museum of Art in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Many of those pieces, as well as several that have never been displayed, can now be seen at the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art. [[File:Katrina-biloxi-miss-grand-casino2-2005.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Aerial view of the casino barge washed onto the site of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in September 2005]] Two new Frank-Gehry designed buildings are scheduled to open in 2012. The City of Biloxi Center for Ceramics will open in late spring/early summer 2012 and will be used for classes in ceramics and other art. The Center for Ceramics will also contain community meeting areas. {{commonscat|George E. Ohr}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book|last=Carr Black|first=Patti|title=American Masters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast: George Ohr, Dusti Bongé, Walter Anderson, Richmond Barthe|year=2009|publisher=Mississippi Arts Commission|location=Jackson, Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-205-4}} *{{cite book|last=Clark|first=Garth |last2=Ellison|first2=Robert A.|last3=Hecht|first3=Eugene |title=The Mad Potter of Biloxi: The Art & Life of George E. Ohr|year=1989|publisher=Abbeville Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-89659-927-7}} *{{cite book|last=Ellison|first=Robert A.|title=George Ohr, Art Potter: The Apostle of Individuality|year=2006|publisher=Scala|location=London|isbn=978-1-85759-425-6}} *{{cite book|last=Hecht|first=Eugene|authorlink=Eugene Hecht|title=After the Fire: George Ohr, an American genius|year=1994|publisher=Arts and Crafts Quarterly Press|location=Lambertville, NJ|isbn=978-0-9637896-9-3}} *{{cite book|last=Mohr|first=Richard D.|title=Pottery, Politics, Art: George Ohr and the Brothers Kirkpatrick|year=2003|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana|isbn=978-0-252-02789-5}} ==External links== *[http://georgeohr.org/george-e-ohr/ George E. Ohr] at the Ohr–O'Keefe Museum of Art {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohr, George}} [[Category:1857 births]] [[Category:1918 deaths]] [[Category:American ceramists]] [[Category:American potters]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in Mississippi]]'