A few years ago, a visitor to the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art casually mentioned to its director, Sally Macaulay, that he could repair a blemish on a bowl on exhibit by the late Ed Moulthrop, a celebrated wood turner.
But when Philip Moulthrop, an outstanding craftsman himself who had introduced himself as Ed’s son, returned a week later, Macaulay asked to see his driver’s license before she handed over the prized piece.
That’s how it rolls for Philip Moulthrop, 63, and also his 33-year-old son Matt, who has extended the family’s nationally acclaimed crafts work to a third generation: Their gleaming wooden creations are famous and well-recognized, but they are not.
But their cover is about to be blown. Consider these career-turning events for the Marietta-based wood turners:
- "Moulthrop: A Southern Legacy — Three Generations of Wood Turning," an exhibition of more than 100 works borrowed from 27 private collections, continues on view through Dec. 18 at Marietta/Cobb Museum.
- On Monday, the PBS series "Craft in America" will air a long segment on the Moul-throps as part of a special episode chronicling family craft traditions.
- On Nov. 4, the Signature Shop and Gallery, where Moulthrop bowls are always on view, will debut an exhibition of 40 new pieces each by Philip and Matt. Price range: $450-$20,000.
- Matt Moulthrop has been selected for the exhibit "40 Under 40: Craft Futures" opening in July at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, the nation's premiere crafts museum. The exhibit will showcase works by 40 artists born since 1972, the year that the Renwick was designated as the Smithsonian American Art Museum's contemporary craft and decorative arts branch. It plans to purchase a work by Matt to add to its permanent collection.
- The High Museum of Art is in the early planning stages for a major Moulthrop exhibit. "We believe that we should honor and celebrate the Moulthrops' achievements," said chief curator David Brenneman, calling the grandfather, son and grandson "Atlanta treasures."
- Philip and Matt recently donated pieces for permanent display at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and also are donating works to the permanent collections of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, and the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Lewisville, Texas.
“There are a lot of really great things coming together for Philip and Matt this year,” observed Signature Shop and Gallery owner Carr McCuiston, who curated the Marietta/Cobb exhibit. “I feel like it’s kind of the beginning of a big push, where they’re going to be recognized in a broader way and exposed to a larger audience.”
McCuiston believes the increased attention stems from Matt’s relatively quick rise to the top rank of American wood turners, “adding a new level of excitement to an established family tradition.” She also said some of the interest is cumulative, similar to the knowledge built up and shared by the three generations.
“Between the three of them, they’ve made a lot of connections with a lot of different collectors, galleries and museums, and I think it’s the culmination of all that, all those years put in,” McCuiston said. “Because usually you have one artist, and they have one lifetime, and it’s like Philip and Matt are being able to benefit from three lifetimes.”
Father and son are quick to say they owe a great debt to Ed, who died in 2003. He taught both of them the craft and readily shared tools, equipment and processes he forged. An architect by training, Ed had a keen eye for design. He taught physics at Georgia Tech and gave up a successful architecture practice to go full-time as a wood turner in 1959.
Philip, a biologist-turned-attorney who first expressed himself artistically through photography, came to the craft 34 years ago with Ed’s tutelage.
Matt started assisting Ed in high school, eventually making key contributions in the finishing of his grandfather’s pieces when Ed Moulthrop’s health started to decline.
Thus when Matt was honored with his selection for next year’s Smithsonian show, he thought immediately of his grandfather. “This recognition is especially meaningful because my dad and my grandfather both have work displayed at the Renwick,” he was quoted in the museum’s April announcement. “I only wish my grandfather were here to see it.”
Renwick curator Nicholas Bell said he didn’t select Matt because he was the country’s most cutting-edge turner, but because of the way he honors the style established by Ed without being limited by it.
“Starting with the form and techniques arrived at by Ed gave Philip and Matt a leg up in one sense, but also forced them to work harder to discover their own personalities in the wood, and I think each has,” Bell told the AJC. “They are excellent craftsman, and Matt’s work in particular contrasts with much of the work by young wood artists in this country — this history instills it with a more reserved aesthetic.”
Standing in the Marietta/Cobb Museum — where the exhibit includes an entire gallery of Ed’s classical bowl and vessel forms, more than his son and grandson have seen at one time in many years — father and son talked fondly of Ed’s imprint.
“He overcame a lot of obstacles to get to the kind of work that we’re doing,” Philip said of the way his father invented equipment and uncommon processes to create new shapes or vessels of huge proportion. “He was very good at figuring things out, drawing things out.
“When I started, he was like, ‘Here’s the design for the machine, here’s the tools, here’s how to do this.’ ... I didn’t have to do the introductory thing.”
Summarized Matt: “He invented this path.”
Nearly two decades ago, Philip, with his scientist’s yen to experiment, tried a different direction. He invented mosaic-style bowls and platters by embedding small disks of different kinds of wood into carbon-tinted resin. Then he added “bundled” bowls showcasing wider sections of wood running vertically down the side. They retain the classic bowl shapes of his father without being completely wood.
Nearly a decade into his full-time career, Matt, already known for innovating new finishes and working with unusual woods, believes he has found a style that will allow him to fully make his own mark.
He paused in front of two sculptural pieces in which he has “broken through the form” — creating openings along the sides of the vessels and carving out the middles. Essentially, he has made the polished inside as much a part of the composition as the outside.
Matt pointed out that most Moulthrop bowls are three-dimensional objects that are seen as one-dimensional, as viewers admire the exterior closest to them. “This breaks it apart,” he said, “and for that I have to be much more careful how I sand and sculpt.”
Though he admitted that the process of turning bowls into sculpture has been “difficult,” “frustrating” and time-consuming, he said cheerfully, “I’ll hopefully start showing more of these this year. This will be signature to me.”
One piece created specifically for the Marietta/Cobb Museum show clearly reflects the signature of both him and his dad. It’s a coffee table with sliced poison ivy vines encased in a Philip-style mosaic top.
The idea of using the toxic vines, from 2 to 5 inches thick, was Matt’s.
“I’ve never seen anything made out of poison ivy,” Matt explained. “I asked everyone I’m in contact in the wood world, and they all thought I was nuts.”
Philip did too, but then he helped his son, who “very meticulously” cut, planed and sanded the vines outdoors.
“It was a project I just hadn’t attempted; that was our motivation,” Matt said. “But it worked out. I was worried that once we cut the vine the only value to [showing] it would be that it was poison ivy. But actually the grain had a lot of life to it.”
Indeed, even without knowing that the vine encased in the 30-by-48-inch table top is dreaded poison ivy, a museum visitor can just sense its power from the wild patterns in the horizontal strips, which form a strong contrast with the black resin surrounding them.
“The reason we have cross-collaborations,” Matt said of working with his dad on this and other projects, “is there is no guidebook.”
That’s as close as either quiet-spoken man gets to a boast about their work. In almost everything they say, they sound more like servants striving to reveal the inner grace of wood rather than leaders of American craft.
“Ed was so down to earth, and Philip and Matt are both so humble,” gallery owner McCuiston observed. “They’re constantly surprised ... at how much people really enjoy and relate to their work. I think they kind of see it as a gift. Almost 50 years of woodworking from one family and they definitely don’t take it for granted.”
Which leads to the inevitable question about the future of the family tradition. Matt and wife Amanda have a daughter, Reed.
“She’s 4,” he said. “People want to know if she’s learning [the craft]. Uh, we’re just trying to get through school.”
“You can’t force this,” added Matt, who acknowledged being stressed out at the start of his career by collectors and gallery owners who expected “something perfect from Day 1.”
“You have to love it, and there has to be innate ability and stuff,” he said. “I don’t want her to have any pressure added.”
On view
“Moulthrop: A Southern Legacy — Three Generations of Wood Turning”
Through Dec. 18. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays; 1-4 p.m. Sundays. $8; $5, students and seniors; free for members and children under 6. Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, 30 Atlanta St., Marietta. 770-528-1444, www.mariettacobbartmuseum.org.
“Philip Moulthrop, Matt Moulthrop, Emily Wilson”
Opens with artist reception: 6-8 p.m. Nov. 4. Through Nov. 26. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. The Signature Shop and Gallery, 3267 Roswell Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-237-4426, www.thesignatureshop.com.
On TV
“Craft in America: Family”
7 p.m. Monday, GPB
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Philip Moulthrop on what his dad Ed said when the son decided to make wood turning a career: "For 10 years, he always said, 'I'll teach you this some day.' But I was into photography and then finally I got to the point where I thought I'd like to learn this. He kept bringing me a lot of wood: 'Turn this log' and 'Turn this.' So I helped him shape outside stuff. The more you do it, you learn. ... And he liked having someone to talk to, to go over things with, since no one else was doing this."
Matt Moulthrop on what his dad Philip said when the son decided to make wood turning a career: "He said, 'There are no guarantees. But you ultimately won't be judged by me.' So he was very supportive, but I think very worried. ... He really helped me with the finer details [of finishes]. That's one of the things he tried to tell me: 'Maintain the tradition, but focus on the details.' And, 'If you don't like the way we're doing something, figure out your own way.'"
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