American Ceramics & Ceramic National Exhibition Archive

Gender

Male

Nationality

American

Life Dates

1906 - 2008

Biography

Every adult in America has ridden in, drunk from, stored things in, played with, hung on the wall, eaten off, mowed the lawn with, lit the night with, viewed in a museum, cooled their room with, read about, printed with, sat on, placed a call with, enjoyed in a theater, hid their hooch in, collected, been awarded with, seen at a zoo, put their flowers in, served punch from, fried their chicken in, been delivered milk from, read something printed on, seen at the World’s Fair, detected enemy combatants with, had an arm or leg replaced with, been protected by, or seen at the White House something created by Viktor Schreckengost. Called an “American da Vinci” by so many that discover him, the breadth and depth of his work is staggering by any measure. A pioneer of modern American industrial design, prolific sculptor, painter, and ceramist, his works are sought by and held in major private and public collections across the United States. His Jazz Bowl is considered an icon of the Art Deco era. Bicycles, pedal cars, dinnerware, lawn mowers-a host of consumer products-have had place in all of our lives. His crowning achievement was his creation of the first industrial design education program in America in 1931. For nearly 70 years, Viktor trained generations of leading industrial designers whose impact on the country’s economy, along with his, far exceeds $200 billion. The impact on the quality of our lives is immeasurable. -From National Centennial Exhibition