User:Ed.Ecrimage/Pierre Culot

Pierre Culot was a Belgian sculptor and studio potter born 12 January 1938 in Malmedy and died 9 March 2011 in Roux-Miroir (Incourt).

Early life
Born into a family of teachers, Pierre Culot grew up in Namur. From his adolescence, he was attracted to the world of art and antiquity. In 1954, he joined the School of Artistic Crafts at Maredsous Abbey. He left the school in Maredsous in 1957. He then went to study as an apprentice with Belgian ceramicist Antoine de Vinck and perfect his technical training.

In 1958, he joined the La Cambre National School of Visual Arts in Brussels and attended the workshop of sculptor Charles Leplae. There, he met a whole generation of future artists, including illustrator Miche Wynants (born in 1934 in Louvain), whom he later married.

In the same year, he met the master potter Bernard Leach. He stayed more than one month at his workshop in Cornwall. His stay proved to be highly beneficial—he spent time among other apprentices and potters, some of whom went on to shape the art of ceramics in the second half of the 20th century, such as Michael Cardew or Gwyn Hanssen-Pigott.

Career
1964 marked the start of a promising career: In Paris, Pierre Culot exhibited at the Robert Delpire Gallery. In London, his ceramics were hosted by the Primavera Gallery, which championed creations by Hans Coper, Lucie Rie, Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew at the time. In 1967, he entered the International Contemporary Ceramic Art Competition, organised by the Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, and was awarded the Ministry of Foreign Trade prize for his clay vases.

In 1974, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London hosted his works for a solo exhibition. Three years earlier in 1971, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam held a dedicated exhibition on Pierre Culot’s work and repeated the event from 1994 to 1995. Throughout his career, Pierre Culot saw his work exhibited in many different galleries and museums in France, Switzerland, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. Museums that have exhibited the work of Pierre Culot include, the National Ceramics Museum in Sèvres, the Museum of Design and the Bellerive Museum in Zurich, the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels.

Throughout his life, Pierre Culot was interested in materials besides stoneware, particularly in terms of creating sculptures with wood. In 1973, one of his wood sculptures won the “Young Belgian sculptor” competition. Pierre Culot also created numerous models, made using a combination of wood, stone and clay. He discovered the work of sculptor Eduardo Chillida in 1969 during a retrospective in Zurich, which would go on to have a considerable impact on him. His interest in materials led him to devise an exhibition on recycling in 2004 at the Tournay-Solvay park in Watermael-Boitsfort, which featured sculptures made of metal, corrugated iron, wood and stone.

Pierre Culot was interested in sculpture throughout his career and became deeply dedicated to the craft as the years went by. Everything in his work relates to it, without being defined as such. In 1965, he produced openwork panels and stoneware tiles, demonstrating an interest in the architectural arrangement of ceramic objects. The year after, he received a request from the University of Liège to devise a wall at the Sart Tilman Open Air Museum.

Personal life
Pierre Culot and Miche Wynants married in 1963. They bought an abandoned farm in Roux-Miroir, in the province of Brabant Wallon. Their daughter Charlotte Culot was born in 1964 and went on to become a painter. In 1965, Eléonore Culot, was born but unfortunately died prematurely. In 1967, their son Joseph Culot was born, who was later responsible for the revival of activities at the Roux-Miroir workshops in 2015.