Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.
John Mason (born 1927) was raised in the Midwest and Nevada, and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 22 to study ceramics at Otis Art Institute. In 1954, following a short stint at Chouinard Art Institute, Mason returned to Otis to train in ceramics under artist Peter Voulkos. Mason and Voulkos developed a close working relationship, sharing a studio where they developed new equipment for experimenting with ceramics, exploring new possibilities in scale, surface quality, and technique. After meeting Walter Hopps and Edward Kienholz in 1957, Mason joined the stable of artists at the Ferus Gallery, exhibiting there several times until the gallery’s closure in 1966.
John Mason and Peter Voulkos photographing a sculpture outside their shared studio on Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles, ca. 1959. Courtesy of the Voulkos & Co. Catalogue Project
Peter Voulkos, John Mason, and Paul Soldner at Otis Art Institute (now called Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles, 1956. Image courtesy of Soldner Enterprises and Stephanie Soldner Sullivan
Explore the Era
Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.
John Mason
Artist
John Mason compacting clay onto his easel for a large ceramic relief in his Glendale Boulevard studio in Los Angeles, 1959–60. Image courtesy John Mason Studio. © Robert Bucknam
John Mason (born 1927) was raised in the Midwest and Nevada, and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 22 to study ceramics at Otis Art Institute. In 1954, following a short stint at Chouinard Art Institute, Mason returned to Otis to train in ceramics under artist Peter Voulkos. Mason and Voulkos developed a close working relationship, sharing a studio where they developed new equipment for experimenting with ceramics, exploring new possibilities in scale, surface quality, and technique. After meeting Walter Hopps and Edward Kienholz in 1957, Mason joined the stable of artists at the Ferus Gallery, exhibiting there several times until the gallery’s closure in 1966.
Historic Map Locations
Styles & Materials
Time Periods & Venues
Works of Art
Vertical Sculpture, Spear Form, 1957, John Mason. Glazed stoneware. 67 5/16 x 28 x 12 in. Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum. © John Mason
Orange Cross, 1963, John Mason. Ceramic with glaze. 64 x 49 x 16 in. Collection of Vernita Mason. © John Mason. Photo by Roxanne Hall Morganti
Blue Wall, 1959, John Mason. Ceramic. 96 x 252 x 8 in. Collection of the artist. © John Mason. Photo by Anthony Cuñha
Explore the Archive
Video: Irving Blum, John Mason, and Billy Al Bengston speak about the work of Peter Voulkos, 2010–11
Video: John Mason speaks about his work, March 2010
Andrew Perchuk, Getty Research Institute, with John Mason inspecting Mason’s sculpture Orange Cross, 2010. © J. Paul Getty Trust
John Mason and Peter Voulkos photographing a sculpture outside their shared studio on Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles, ca. 1959. Courtesy of the Voulkos & Co. Catalogue Project
Peter Voulkos, John Mason, and Paul Soldner at Otis Art Institute (now called Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles, 1956. Image courtesy of Soldner Enterprises and Stephanie Soldner Sullivan