DescriptionStephen De Staebler Ceramic Sculpture. (American, 1933-2011 in Berkeley, CA) leg lower section in clay from knee down through foot into base. Original pigment and coloring, condition is very good.Signed & Dated in clay on rear 1996Dimensions: 33 1/2 x 10″ x 18″Best recognized for his work in clay and bronze. Totemic and fragmented in form, De Staebler’s figurative sculptures call forth the many contingencies of the human condition, such as resiliency and fragility, growth and decay, earthly boundedness and the possibility for spiritual transcendence. An important figure in the California Clay Movement, he is credited with “sustaining the figurative tradition in post-World War II decades when the relevance and even possibility of embracing the human figure seemed problematic at best.De Staebler matriculated at Princeton University in 1950, where he studied archeology, art history and religion. Joe Brown, a former professional boxer recognized for his sculptures of sports figures, served as De Staebler’s mentor during this stage of his education.De Staebler’s ceramic sculptures harness the inherent qualities of clay, his primary medium during the earlier years of his career, to create raw, fragmented indexes of the body, the landscape and even the landscape as body. The equally organic and preternatural qualities of his forms evoke the tenuous relationships between earthly monumental and spiritual transcendence, fragmentation and wholeness, and fragility and strength. This tendency for slippage serves a productive purpose, allowing the works to inhabit the discursive space between more prescriptive categories. Seated Figure with Yellow Flame, in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum is a typical example of his anthropomorphic works.
