Pierre Culot (12 January 1938 – 9 March 2011 in ) was a Belgian sculptor and ceramicist.
Biography
Education
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, where he studied ceramic art under Richard Owczarek. At weekends, he would visit the workshop of painter Yvonne Perin (1905–1967) in Namur, where he mixed with other artists and intellectuals. 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. During his training, he discovered the Ratilly stoneware style, introduced to him by French ceramicists Jeanne Pierlot and Norbert Pierlot. He later met Jacqueline Lerat, Yves Mohy, Pierre Digan, Elisabeth Joulia and Robert Deblander. 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. He visited other artist's workshops that year, including that of Pierre Caille, and also convinced the English master potter Bernard Leach to host him 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.
Trips abroad
From 1959 to 1961, Pierre Culot carried out compulsory military service. He was posted to the Congo while the country sought independence, and discovered local ceramics during his time there. In 1963, Pierre et Miche went on their honeymoon. The couple passed through the Alps and Brindisi, and down through Italy to end up in Greece. They took also took advantage of the opportunity to visit painter and engraver Giorgio Morandi at his workshop during the trip. Pierre Culot later travelled to various European countries as well as spending time in Japan, where he met ceramicist Shoji Hamada in 1973. Hamada was linked to the Mingei movement, which would influence all of Culot's ceramic works. He returned to Japan for a second trip in 1974. In 1976, he travelled to India and discovered Chandigarh, a city that is home to countless architectural creations by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Matthew Nowicki. In 1988, Pierre Culot went to Yemen with a group of French architects. This trip cultivated his reflections on sculpture. The architecture in the cities of Al-Hudaydah, Sanaa and Taiz that he visited would inspire his ceramics and sculptures to take on new shapes, such as columns and walls built from brick and stoneware tiles.
Artistic life
Pierre Culot: Contemporary ceramicist
In 1962, Pierre Culot set up a workshop on the rue du Luxembourg in Brussels. He hosted artists at his workshop, including Lison Guerry-Verdet (1938–2001). He was frequently supported by Mr et Mrs Baucher-Féron, who worked in interior design and decoration and had a studio in Avenue Louise in Brussels. Culot's ceramics were regularly displayed there up to the 1980's. A year before their wedding in 1963, Culot exhibited with Miche Wynants at the Vendôme Gallery in Brussels. From 1963, Pierre Culot became affiliated with a variety of organisations that promoted Belgian artists and artisans: He has been featured in two successive editions of the Brabant Métiers d'Art directory. 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.