Bowl

James PrestiniWW-1933-016261

1933·Mexican mahogany·13.7 × 6.3 × 24.1 cm (5 3/8 × 2 1/2 × 9 1/2 in.)

<p>“The important thing,” said James Prestini, “is not the product but the process. I’m not interested in turning a good-looking bowl, I’m interested in what does it take to turn that bowl? What do I have to learn to do?” Prestini made astonishingly thin, refined bowls and platters between the years 1933 and 1953. This example is made of two pieces of wood laminated together, which Prestini then shaped into a vessel using an electric lathe.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1933
Medium: Mexican mahogany
Dimensions: 13.7 × 6.3 × 24.1 cm (5 3/8 × 2 1/2 × 9 1/2 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: James Prestini

Artist

James Prestini

Installation

James Prestini was an American woodturner and designer whose vessels defined postwar American craft modernism. Working primarily in wood on the lathe, he created forms of severe geometric purity, often turned from single blocks of exotic timber and finished to mirror-like surfaces. Prestini taught at the Institute of Design in Chicago, where his approach to functional form as sculptural statement influenced a generation of studio craftspeople. His work bridges industrial design rationalism and the emerging studio craft movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Waterford, CT, United States

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