Henry Ferdinand Fromhold (born Fromholtz), Hal Fromhold, Henry Ferdinand Fromholtz

Born 1918 Leningrad, Russia

Died 197, California

EDUCATION

1958    BA University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

1959    MFA Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1939-1947       British Army (joined in Sarafrand, Palestine).

British Central Intelligence in London.

1947                Studied hotel management, Lucene, Switzerland.                

1953-1955       Vancouver School of Fine Arts, Vancouver, British Columbia

1955-1957       University of British Columbia,

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.

1959-1960       Taught ceramics at San Pedro High School¸ San Pedro, California

1960 onward   Studio potter

BIOGRAPHY

Hal Fromhold is known for production stoneware pottery as well as unique thrown and altered works. In some cases these thrown and altered works would retain their functionality; for example, a bowl with attached under plate. In other cases, the altered piece became unique sculptures.

Fromhold opened a studio in Los Angeles in 1960, where he employed up to five apprentices, including Mayer Schater and Bertil Vellin (later Vallein), who became a notable glass designer at Kosta Boden in Kosta, Sweden. Another apprentice was Milt Kohl, who became Fromhold’s partner in operations in 1962. From 1967 to 1969, Frombold and Hohl relocated to Chino Valley, Arizona. They moved back to Los Angeles where Fromhold and Kohl worked together until Fromhold’s death in 1975.

In 1970, Fromhold documented his studio practice and life as a professional potter in a feature article for Ceramics Monthly[1]. Fromhold stated that he used a single clay body and single matte glaze for most of his work over a ten-year period. Experiments like a slip cast porcelain series was not as commercially successful and abandoned.