Harold Hughan

The ninetieth birthday of a great artist or craftsman is occasion enough for celebration. In the case of Harold Hughan’s ninetieth birthday an especial sense of moment attaches to the occasion. He is one of the founders of Australian studio pottery; his work remains one of the foundation stones of Australian art and craft and a living touchstone of quality. Were he a Japanese potter, he would have been declared a National Treasure years ago.

It is a privilege for the National Gallery of Victoria to be able to pay him tribute on his ninetieth birthday with this exhibition brought together by Kenneth Hood, Deputy Director of the Gallery, whose long standing affection and understanding of Harold Hughan and his work are unsurpassed.

In one sense no lover of the fine arts could be unfamiliar with Harold Hughan’s work. Those lidded jars, chunky stoneware vases, generous and bold platters sometimes decorated sparingly with Australian wildflowers, have become part of our visual language, classics of Australian ceramics. They have been that for so long that there is a risk of taking them for granted, forgetting just how singular and original is Harold Hughan’s achievement. As this exhibition brings together some of his finest and most familiar works, as well as less familiar pieces and episodes of his career, it makes a fitting occasion to remind ourselves of the rich threads which make up Harold Hughan’s artistic achievement.

Excerpt from
Kenneth Hood, Hughan, Harold Hughan: a retrospective exhibition in honour of his ninetieth birthday, National Gallery of Victoria, 1983, p.3.