Turned and Sculpted: Wood Art from the Collection of Arthur and Jane Mason

This exhibition featured the serene beauty of modern design expressed in wood by studio artists. Most of the objects were created at least in part on a lathe, an ancient tool used to turn wood while a chisel cuts shapes into the material. The forms can be precise geometry or undulating polymorphous design, but all of them reveal the inner beauty of wood. Although most of the objects were inspired by the role of a vessel or bowl, they transcend function and become an experience of form wedded to the dramatic beauty of revealed wood grain of many species.

The museum’s Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts pursues collecting and researching modern studio craft. These objects, a gift to the museum, constitute a comprehensive collection of examples by the foremost wood artists working in the United States. This collection was carefully assembled through decades of discernment and connoisseurship by Arthur and Jane Mason. An accompanying catalogue published by the museum focuses on a statement of the history and meaning of their many years of collecting.