PAUL SOLDNER (1921 - 2011 )
    
Paul Soldner is one of the world’s most influential and significant ceramic artists.  He was one of the first students of Peter Voulkos, an influential American ceramist who taught at the Otis Art Institute in the 1950s. Soldner taught for many years, dividing his time between Aspen, Colorado, and Scripps College in Claremont, California. He inspired a younger generation of artists through his teaching methods and his creation of the "American Raku" firing technique. Based on the Japanese Raku ware tradition, Soldner's method uses different processes to create works that have shapes and glazes that set them apart from Asian ware. Soldner believed that experience and mistakes lead to progress and innovation, an idea that allowed him to produce a substantial number of pieces throughout his career.
Soldner was also the author of numerous articles and a book ("Kilns and Their Construction"), and the founder of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. The center was founded in 1968 and Soldner served as the director in the early 1970s. It is now well-known for its excellent summer program, drawing people from all over the world to study with well known teachers.

Work in Public and Private Collections
The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Ontario, Canada
Victoria and Albert Museum of Art, London, England
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
Australian National Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, California
Franz Hals Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
American Craft Museum, New York, New York
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California (Fred Marer Collection)