The lasting legacy of Danish ceramicist Axel Salto
Three strange growths, resembling durian fruit, sit on a plinth. Their textured, stoneware surfaces glossy with glaze, they stand in front of a striking textile decorated with blue shapes that mirror their ceramic forms against a backdrop of serrated, comblike patterns with a dash of red. This is the work of Axel Salto, a Danish maker and designer who worked across media, but is best known for his ceramics. Feted in the 1950s, Axel faded from public view until his death in 1961. This autumn, Playing with Fire: Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto will arrive at The Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire and is sure to have an impact.
Born in 1889 in Copenhagen, Axel studied painting at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. His ceramics career was launched when manufacturer Bing & Grondahl asked him to design porcelain for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. He worked as a designer in collaboration with the artist and thrower Carl Hallier, briefly at Saxbo ceramics and, from 1933 until 1948, at Royal Copenhagen. His ceramics, which would have originally cost around £20, can now fetch up to £340,000 at auction. Axel worked collaboratively with teams of skilled professionals throughout his career, including, from 1945 onwards, with textile manufacturer LF Foght, for whom he designed fabrics. He was the recipient of many awards, including the Grand Prix at the Milan Triennale in 1951.
Axel took his ideas from nature, saying, ‘It is important for an artist to create in the spirit of nature rather than to imitate its outward appearance.’ The finding of something like a fluted shell ‘obliges the potter to give back this find in the shape of a bowl. There is no greater satisfaction than to make a beautiful moment eternal’.
His ceramics fall into three categories that he used to classify his own work: fluted, budding and sprouting. The budding and fluted forms are modelled on varied details in nature, such as a chestnut’s spiky casing, an acorn or a shell. The sprouting style refers to what he called the ‘miracle of growth’, reflecting ‘the pulsating life force that springs out of nature’. This moment of transformation, of metamorphosis, the seductive and dangerous potential of change, is at the heart of his work. He described it as ‘the burning now’ – the moment when one thing becomes another. Axel wrote extensively about the movement of ceramics in the kiln; the sense of anticipation and anxiety as he opened it. This is celebrated in the current exhibition by a black kiln-like space in which his bubbling, moving vessels are displayed.
Axel’s biomorphic forms are covered with deep glazes that puddle and pool, giving them depth and intensity. He developed a green-yellow solfatara glaze at Royal Copenhagen, named after a sulphurous Italian volcano he had walked on. He wrote notes and books about his experiences, including in Italy and France – finding ways of recreating his observations not only in his ceramics, but also in various works, including wood cuts, paper designs, book covers and textiles. He used repetition, making multiple similar marks to create his patterns.
He recommended this use of repetition for not only established artists, but also children. He focused on play, writing children’s books and encouraging both children and adults to use carved inking stamps to produce patterns. At The Hepworth Wakefield, visitors can use the inked stamps to make their own designs.
The ceramicist today who most closely echoes his spirit is Kate Malone, who creates organic, richly coloured vessels. She discovered his work in the 1990s. ‘He captures that moment of transition, the moment where things become something else, where energy is fizzing, a life force. a physical energy,’ she says. ‘It’s what I aim for in my work. He stirs a deep emotion that’s difficult to put your finger on, I’d like to think that sometimes I might touch that place.’
The new show is curated by Edmund de Waal: his work could not be more different from Axel’s aesthetically, but he is equally concerned with the moment of transformation, as seen in his own work also on display. The presentation of Axel’s work is true to his mantra, set out in layers of pattern – textile behind ceramic, next to paper pattern. A feast for the eyes.
