Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1951, where his father was stationed as ambassador. Lee began his education in Taiwan and moved to the United States in 1968 to attend Eastern Mennonite College, where he earned a degree in biology in 1971. He attended medical school in the 1970s at the Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State College, specializing in neurosurgery. After starting work as a physician, and looking to reduce stress after long workdays, Lee enrolled in a ceramics class at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was there that he found the two passions of his life: studio pottery and his future bride, Holly, a jewelry designer. Lee enrolled in the school’s ceramics master’s program and received his degree in 1976.
From the start, Lee and his wife have sold their own work. Their first gallery was in Arlington, Virginia, followed by the Georgetown section of Washington, DC. They currently live near Stevens, Pennsylvania, and sell work directly from their studio or at major craft shows such as the ACC Baltimore Show, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, and the Smithsonian Craft Show. In 1993, President and Mrs. Clinton invited Lee to contribute to the White House Collection of American Crafts, an exhibition that toured the country. Lee’s work is now included in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery; the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; and the Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin. He has received numerous awards at craft shows. His work has been exhibited around the world and featured in publications, including Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects (2007) and the subsequent television series.
Nicholas Bell, Ulysses Grant Dietz, and Andrew Wagner History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011 (Washington, D.C. and London: Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with Scala, 2011)
Cliff Lee was born in 1951 in Vienna, where his father was an ambassador. His father held diplomatic posts in a number of other cities, including Paris. Lee came to this country in 1968, and started Hershey Medical School at Pennsylvania State College before deciding he wanted to be an artist/scientist rather than a doctor/scientist.
He received a MA degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he met his wife Holly, a jeweler. His work has been exhibited throughout the world, from Taiwan to Newport, Rhode Island.
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/cliff-lee-6795
Cliff Lee
1951Born Vienna, Austria
1968Immigrated to the United States
EDUCATION
1971BS Biology, Eastern Mennonite University, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
UnknownMilton S. Hershey Medical School, Pennsylvania State College, Hershey, Pennsylvania
1976MFA Ceramics, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Cliff Lee recreates classical Chinese forms using thrown and carved porcelain. He finishes these with glazes ranging from lava to Imperial yellow.
Lee was raised in Taiwan where he was surrounded by his parent’s extensive collection of Asian ceramics. He moved to the United States in 1968 where he attended medical school specializing in neurosurgery. He left medicine in 1978 to pursue a career in ceramics.
Lee’s work reflects the influence of this early exposure to classic Asian ceramics. He typically carves motifs from mythology and from nature. Lee is known for his glazes including celadon, oxblood, lava, and oil spot. Lee's Imperial yellow glaze was formulated and perfected over 17 years. It is considered to be true to the ancient Chinese formula for Imperial yellow.
Public Collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts
Racine Art Museum, WI
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.
White House Collection of Contemporary Crafts, Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, Arkansas
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
Bibliography
Bell, Nicholas, Ulysses Grant Deitz and Andrew Wagner. History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011. Washington, D.C. and London, England: Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with Scala Publishers, 2011.
Website(s):
http://www.cliffleeporcelain.com/
