Specialist of stoneware and a staple of the Royal Copenhagen Manufacture, Axel Salto is one of the most singular and prolific Danish artists of his time. Born in Copenhagen in 1889 and graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Axel Salto graduated high school in 1907 whereupon he dedicated two restless years between Denmark and southern France to painting and graphic art, techniques he will keep pursuing all of his life. His inspirations, particularly Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Greco-roman myths, will stay a theme throughout his creation. He mingled with Matisse and Picasso, and created the Klingen paper, which would become the herald of Danish modernists.
However, his need to constantly approach new materials drove him to join the workshop of Mr. Carl Halier, where he familiarized himself with the materials and techniques of ceramics, until he mastered them to perfection. He later collaborated with Nathalie Krebs and earned the silver medal at the 1925 Paris World Fair, leading him to make ceramics his preferred medium. Only from 1933-1934 did he consecrate the production of his works exclusively to the Royal Porcelain Factory (Royal Copenhagen); he will go on to receive the Grand Prize for Ceramics at the 1937 Universal Exhibition, and the Grand Prize of the Milan Triennial in 1951. Axel Salto draws his inspiration from nature where he finds perpetual reinvention. According to him, clay ‘breathes’ and possesses its one innate energy. Throughout his life, Salto will have collected objects found in the forest or on the coast, bark, seashells, chestnuts, or flint, that come alive in his creations. However, Salto aims to “create according to nature, rather than copying its exterior aspect”; he distinguishes, in his mature works, imitation and inspiration.
The richness of American vs Brazilian vs Scandinavian Design sales lies in the representation of the iconic styles of great names in design, including Salto. In his art, the "germinative style" is the apotheosis of his creation. The chiselings rise and fall in a rich and abundant rhythm. The 20.568 cup model in glazed stoneware, estimated at 15,000/20,000€, is a very good example of this, expressing a dynamic of growth and great vitality.
Lot 157 - Axel Johannes Salto (1889-1961)
20.568 Model
Cup
Glazed stoneware
Royal Copenhagen Edition
Signed in hollow Salto, three waves - Royal
Copenhagen
Bear number 20.568
Date of creation: 1944
Estimate 15 000 - 20 000 €
