Erik Pløen - Pioneering Potter

Erik Pløen is one of the leading figures of modern Norwegian ceramics. An artisan with an unusually varied artistry, he constantly experimented with new shapes and glazes. Pløen's works of art are mainly characterized by a tremendous sculptural understanding.

At the age of 16, Erik Pløen (1925–2004) started as an apprentice in the pottery workshop of Schneider & Knutzen. His first years there were both difficult and educational. In 1943/44, Pløen left the company, and in 1946 he established his own workshop in Asker. Two years later, he moved to Stange, where he and co-workers manufactured tin-glazed earthenware. Because of the success of his workshop, Pløen was given a more administrative function with responsibilities for accounting and packaging. In 1956, he took a sabbatical to experiment with stoneware pottery.

In the autumn of 1957, Pløen sent his first stoneware collection to Föreningen Brukskonst's autumn exhibition. It was adopted in its entirety and was later featured at the exhibition Formes Scandinaves at the Louvre in Paris in 1958. Pløen’s early stoneware showed similarities to both Axel Salto and Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa. But eventually, he became interested in powerful, thrown, and modeled forms. The decorations were carved into the clay, and the glaze came in earthy colors in blue, green and reddish tones.

Through hard work and exhibitions, Erik Pløen thrived. His big breakthrough came with a separate exhibition at Norway Designs in Oslo in 1959. In the same year, he received a state scholarship for applied arts, and Georg Jensen in New York presented his works for the American market. Pløen gained international recognition in 1961 when he was awarded the prestigious Nordic Lunning Prize. As a result of the award, he became an intern at the chemistry department at The Royal Porcelain Factory in Copenhagen.

In 1963, Pløen became a visiting professor at the Midway Studio at the University of Chicago. There he experimented with burning stoneware in a gas stove. Unlike an electric oven with a maximum temperature of 1270 degrees, a gas oven has a maximum of 1380 degrees. The higher temperatures allowed Pløen to reduce the air supply during burning, which greatly affected the glaze colors. When Pløen returned from the United States in 1964, he bought a gas stove and began using new glazes, some of which contained ash from hardwood trees. The new methods were experimental, and the results varied. Many works had to be discarded, while some were of very high quality.

In the late 1960s and in the early 1970s, Erik Pløen’s ceramics became less symmetrical. The forms became more critical, and he devoted more time to each object. Pløen endeavored to achieve better results and continually found new ways to process the surfaces. His pottery had become sculptural objects where the function was irrelevant.

During the last years of his life, Erik Pløen was plagued by illness. In an interview a few months before he died, he vowed to continue with ceramics "as long as I live".

Of great importance to Norwegian craftsmanship was Erik Pløen's idea of an annual exhibition without jury evaluation at Gallery F 15 at Jeløja. The exhibition, entitled Trender, was organized for the first time in 1971 by gallery owner Lars Brandstrup.

About the Author Mats Linder (1970–) received education in fine arts at the Art Academy in Trondheim. He specializes in Scandinavian design and crafts from the period 1890–1980. Mats is a writer for several art journals, author of "Norske Designmøbler 1940–1975”, and responsible for texts about ceramics and glass for the Norwegian national encyclopedia. Visit Mats' blog (in Norweigan), which is a goldmine for connoisseurs of Scandinavian design.