Vintage Robert Schellin Midcentury Ceramic Vase
Robert Schellin (1910-1985) was born in Akron, Ohio in 1910 and moved with his parents to Milwaukee in 1924. He received his bachelor of arts degree from the old Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1933 and a master of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Schellin won first prize in the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptures competition in 1933 for an oil painting titled “Minerva.” The painting was later presented to the college by that year’s graduating class.
In 1935, Schellin was the center of public controversy when two of his social-protest murals containing nude female figures were covered up as part of the widely publicized “battle of the nudes” on the Milwaukee campus. Subsequently, the murals were shown in old Mitchell Hall for four years, then rolled up for storage, never to be seen again.
Schellin taught at the Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1937-38, and again from 1945 until his retirement in 1975. By then the school had been renamed the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. For 20 of those 30 years, Schellin served as head of the ceramics area. Schellin was recognized both for his expressive, innovative ceramics and his abstract paintings. During his career, he worked in oil, egg tempera, acrylic and encaustic. In addition to teaching, he was a productive artist his whole life.
This gorgeous midcentury vase is a rare find, similar to one found in the Milwaukee Art Museum. It measures approx. 11" high, x 8" wide, and is in beautiful vintage condition. It is signed on the bottom.
