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Meet the Moulthrops
Written By: Lin Sheffield - The Bascom | Issue: 2017/10 - October
The Moulthrop family of Marietta, Georgia, includes three generations of world-renowned wood turners – Ed, Philip, and Matt, each of whom has contributed his own unique style to the medium. They are among the most celebrated and collectable contemporary wood artists worldwide. Their work is included in numerous major collections, including the permanent collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), the Carter Center (Atlanta), the Detroit Institute of Arts, Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, and all three have work in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
It all began with Ed Moulthrop, credited as the “father of modern woodturning.”
“Ed liked simple forms,” his son Philip says. “He didn’t like complex or intricate forms. What he loved was the wood. And this has carried on; we’re working with the same ideas. Our work concerns the beauty of the wood as revealed through form.”
Philip learned the art of wood turning from his father in the 1970s and embraced Ed’s basic aesthetic. Today, even when creating a bold new body of work, Philip does not stray from the established form or intention but uses new technical approaches in order to share the natural beauty of the wood.
Philip’s sons, Chris and Matt, worked with their grandfather in his studio, learning about wood and how to use the tools. While Chris went on to work in the computer industry, Matt became immersed in the demands of turning. Today, Matt has a greater knowledge of wood than his grandfather had accumulated, thanks to an ever-expanding array of trees to choose from and greater access to research on timbers and their properties.
Moulthrop vessels came along at a point in history when modern art and traditional craft merged, creating a fertile breeding ground for bold new works.
The Bascom is proud to have Philip and Matt give a presentation of their amazing work on Saturday, October 28. Join us from 10:00 A.M. to noon to enjoy their talk, have a chance to meet them and perhaps begin a Moulthrop collection of your own.
