Maurice Heaton (1900–1990) was a Swiss-born American glass artist, of English ancestry.[2] His glass work ranged in subject, and included work in window hangings, murals, lighting fixtures, and tableware.[2] For most of his life he lived in the hamlet of Valley Cottage in Rockland County, New York, U.S..[3][4]

Maurice Heaton
Born1900
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
DiedApril 6, 1990 (aged 89–90)[1]
Valley Cottage, New York, U.S.
EducationStevens Institute of Technology
Years active1923–1990
Known forGlass artist
MovementStudio glass movement, Art Deco

In 1985, Heaton was elected as a fellow of the American Craft Council (ACC).[5]

Biography

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Maurice Heaton was born in 1900 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, to English parents.[2] His father and grandfather were glass artists.[4] In 1914 during World War I, his family moved to New York state, and by 1919 the family settled in Valley Cottage, New York which was a rural area at the time.[3][6]

Heaton attended the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he studied engineering.[6] After leaving college he worked under his father Clement Heaton, as a stained-glass artist assistant.[4][6]

He had invented a process in 1947 for creating glassware in the studio furnace, and was later part of the 1960s studio glass movement.[7] His glass studio was in Valley Cottage, New York; it experienced three major fires in 1974, in 1981, and the last fire being in 1988.[4] It took him a year and a half to rebuild his glass studio after the 1988 fire,[8] shortly before his death in April 6, 1990.[1]

Heaton's artwork can be found in museum collections, including at the Brooklyn Museum,[9] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[10] Museum of Arts and Design,[11] the Corning Museum of Glass, the Art Institute of Chicago,[12] and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b Gutwillig, Richard (April 9, 1990). "Rockland loses a craftsman, and much more". The Journal News. pp. B1, B2 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "USA Studio Glass vor 1962 / before 1962: Maurice Heaton, Frances and Michael Higgins, Edris Eckhardt, Vier Pioniere und Wegbereiter / Four Pioneers and True Originals" (PDF). Neues Glas. 4. Düsseldorf: Verlagsanstalt Handwerk: 232–240. October 1985. ISSN 0723-2454. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-11-15.
  3. ^ a b "Maurice Heaton exhibits in Tenafly, NJ". The Journal News. October 14, 1983. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Despite fire, his dreams, artwork alive". The Journal News. May 5, 1988 – via Newspapers.com. pp. 1, 14
  5. ^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  6. ^ a b c "Maurice Heaton". Voices in Studio Glass History. Bard College. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  7. ^ a b "Maurice Heaton". Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  8. ^ Gutwillig, Richard (November 7, 1989). "Despite adversity, artist rebuilds hopes, dreams". The Journal News. pp. 1, 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Maurice Heaton". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  10. ^ "Maurice Heaton "Africa" Bowl". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  11. ^ "Propeller Dish". Museum of Arts and Design (MAD). Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  12. ^ "Maurice Heaton". The Art Institute of Chicago. 1900. Retrieved 2023-11-15.