The Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward
The Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward
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Dora de Larios
Born 1933 Los Angeles, California
Died 2018 Culver City, California
EDUCATION
1957 BFA Ceramics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
Ceramic Artist
1968 Dora de Larios and Ellice Johnston founded Irving Place Studio, Los Angeles, California
BIOGRAPHY
Dora de Larios is known for wheel thrown dinnerware, functional wares, stylized narrative sculpture and architectural murals. The murals were characterized by the use of three dimensional panels or repeated dimensional sculpted elements. De Larios drew influence from her Mexican heritage and world mythology.
Born to Mexican immigrants, de Larios credited the closeness she felt to her heritage as a major source of inspiration. A trip to the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City influenced her decision to work in clay after seeing ancient Aztec works made from clay. While ceramics was de Larios’ primary medium, she also worked in cement, bronze, steel and wood not only to complete large-scale mural installations but also to create sculpture. Her considerable body of sculptural work, regardless of medium or scale, is notable for a developed simplified narrative style.
In 1977, de Larios was one of fourteen ceramic artists selected to create a dinnerware set for the senate wives’ luncheon at the White House. She was the only female ceramists chosen. The work was later displayed at the Renwick Gallery, Washington, District of Columbia.
In an interview with Ceramics Monthly in 1978, de Larios said she always knew she wanted to work as a studio potter. In 1963 she started to work on large-scale projects in collaboration with an architectural tile manufacturer in San Francisco. Her first major commission came in 1971 when she was hired to oversee the production of six ceramic murals for Florida’s Walt Disney World. She would go on to make more public murals for the Kona Surf Hotel in Hawaii and the Los Angeles County library.
De Larios studied with Otto and Vivika Heino and Susan Peterson at the University of Southern California.
Public Collections
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California
Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, New York
Craft Contemporary (formerly The Craft and Folk-Art Museum), Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Bibliography
Butterworth, Lisa. “Alumna Dora De Larios Broke the Mold as a Pioneering Artist.” The Shape of Things: USC Trojan Family, University of Southern California, Spring 2018. Last accessed: 17 December, 2021. https://news.usc.edu/trojan-family/usc-alumna-dora-de-larios-ceramics-broke-mold/
“De Larios: Biography.” De Lario. Last accessed: 17 December, 2021. http://www.doradelarios.com/biography/
De Larios, Dora., Levin, Elaine. Dora De Larios: Forms in Space: June 3 Through June 18, 2000. United States: JACCC, 2000.
Heller, Nancy G. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. United States: Taylor & Francis, 2013.
Hopper, Robin. The Ceramic Spectrum. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1983.
Johnson, Christy. Common Ground: Ceramics in Southern California, 1945-1975. United States: American Museum of Ceramic Art, 2012.
Levin, Elaine. “Dora De Larios: An American Artist for a Multi-Cultural World.” Ceramics: Arts and Perception, 2010, Issue 81, pg. 29-33.
___________. “Dora De Larios.” Ceramics Monthly, Oct. 1978, pg. 49-55.
___________. The History of American Ceramics: From Pipkins and Bean Pots to Contemporary Forms, 1607 to the Present. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988.
___________. De Larios, Dora. Sueños/Yume: Fifty Years of the Art of Dora De Larios. United States: Huerta Quorum, 2009.
Moore, Sylvia. Yesterday and Tomorrow: California Women Artists. New York: Midmarch Arts Press, 1989.
Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook. United Kingdom: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984.
Nigrosh, Leon I. Sculpting Clay. United States: Davis Publications, 1992.
Noriega, Chon, Terezita Romo, Pilar Tomkins Rivas, editors. L.A. Xicano. United States: UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press, 2011.
Peterson, Susan. Contemporary Ceramics. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill, 2000.
_____________. The Craft and Art of Clay. London, UK: Calmann & King LTD, 2000.
Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer. American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions. United States: G.K. Hall, 1990.
CV or Resume: Click Here to Download
Source: The Forrest L. Merrill Collection, Dane Cloutier Archives
Website(s):
 | Center For Craft |
 | AMOCA American Museum of Ceramic Art |
“de larios” often inscribed in clay, sometimes in slip; just the last name, all lowercase
Citation: Beul, Jasmine and Donald Clark. "The Marks Project." Last modified June 15, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/de-larios