Contemporary Crafts and the Saxe Collection

Crafts in the U.S. took a revolutionary turn around 1950, as glassblowers, ceramists, textile artists and others grappled with the conceptual concerns of modernist painting and sculpture. Known today as the studio craft movement, the torrent of creativity unleashed during the last four decades is well-represented in this survey, which catalogs a touring exhibit that opened at the Toledo Museum of Art, where Taragin is a curator. For sheer imaginativeness and a willingness to take risks, the craft collection of California collectors Dorothy and George Saxe, as showcased here, has few peers. Studio glass predominates, but ceramics, textiles, wood, metalwork and jewelry are also represented in the 122 color plates. Essays by several curators and art historians chart the history of the studio craft movement, its restless experimentation and its growing acceptance by the New York City art establishment. (Dec.)