School of Art

Contact Details

School of Art
Aberystwyth University
Buarth Mawr
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion
SY23 1NG

Tel: +44 (0)1970 622460

Fax: +44 (0)1970 622461

Email: artschool@aber.ac.uk

Display artist/maker:

Peteris Martinsons

Born: 1931, Latvia, Daugavpils   Died: 2013, Latvia, Riga

Ceramicist. Martinsons studied architecture at the Latvian State University (1951-57) and went on to work in a research laboratory (1957-58) and then as an architect at the Latgiprogorstroj Design Institue (1958-62). He then accepted an invitation to become a teacher at the Riga School of Applied Art (1962-71) so he could dedicate his long summer holidays to hiking. It was during this time that Martinsons began to experiment with clay.

Martinsons held his first solo exhibition in 1971, where his slab-built geometric forms initially caused concern amongst Latvian ceramicists who worked in traditional ways. He began working with porcelain from 1973, creating sculptural and functional ceramics made from thin slaps with patterned textures. He decorated with on-glaze enamel and lustres, and much of his work was wood-fired.

From 1989 until 2000, Martinson worked at the Latvian Academy of Art in the ceramics department. In 1992 he completed an Master of Arts degree. His work has been exhibited internationally, and he was a demonstrator at the 1995 International Ceramics Festival in Aberystwyth. In 2013 Martinsons dedicated much of his life’s work to the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre. The exhibition ‘Peteris Martinsons. Ceramics. 1963-2013' showed part of this collection.

Objects in the collections associated with this artist/maker

[Water Bird/Duck] C1319 Ceramics



 
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