Bill Caldwell: Waylande Gregory pioneered monumental ceramic sculptures

Apr 09, 2024

Mention sculpture and often figures made of marble, bronze, brass, silver and other metals come to mind. But in the 1930s, Waylande Gregory, a sculptor who grew up in Baxter Springs, Kansas, pioneered the creation of terracotta earthenware art deco sculptures that dwarfed previous works and were made possible by his unique honeycomb technique. His works can be found on public buildings, in museums and in households across the country.

Waylande C. Gregory was born June 13, 1905, to William T. and Louise (de Blumer) Gregory in Baxter Springs, Kansas. The youngest of six siblings, Waylande showed an early interest in the arts. As a child, he was reported to have seen a Native American burial that stirred an interest in ceramics. His mother had been a concert pianist. She taught him piano. He composed and published his own rag, “Kitty Wobble,” when he was 15.

His parents wanted to foster his talents, so they sent him at age 11 to the State Manual Training Normal (now Pittsburg State University) laboratory school, where student teachers under supervision taught classes. Among the subjects he studied were carpentry and crafts, which included ceramics.

As a senior, he displayed promising sculpting talent. The Baxter Daily Citizen and The Joplin Globe both reported his sculpture of a bust of college president William Brandenburg was completed with just six sittings. When he was 17, he was paid $100 for his first commission for a model of a double-headed eagle for the Scottish Rite Masons of Joplin. He graduated high school in 1922.

His instructors encouraged him to enroll at the Kansas City Art Institute. His drive and talents brought him many commissions for designing architectural ornamentations. He worked on Strong Hall at the University of Kansas in 1923. He created a bas-relief for Brandenburg Field at PSU and gave it to the school gratis.

In 1924, he entered the Chicago Art Institute where he studied with Lorado Taft, a renowned sculptor and mentor of sculptors. Under his tutelage he began receiving commissions while still in his 20s. He designed the Hotel President’s Aztec Room using bas-reliefs in Kansas City in 1926. He designed decorations for the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph, Missouri.

After completion of the Missouri Theatre in 1927, he left Chicago to join R. Guy Cowan of Cowan Pottery in Rocky River, Ohio. For three years he worked with Cowan producing small limited edition table-top sculptures. He made three famous figurines modeled on Gilda Grey, the Ziegfeld Follies star. The stylized figures emphasized the dancer’s curves and flowing movements. It was during this time that Gregory married the Hungarian countess Yolande Von Wagner in 1930.

Unfortunately, Cowan Pottery became a victim of the Great Depression. It closed In 1931. He joined the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield, Michigan, as a resident artist working in all phases of pottery. Where he had been constrained to produce commercial work at Cowan Pottery, here he was allowed to follow his artistic vision. There he created the “Kansas Madonna.” The large sculpture of a mare nursing her foal was displayed at the Whitney Museum in New York. It gained attention, but the $1,500 price tag left it unsold.

Creating ever larger terracotta figures had fascinated Gregory. The technical problem was that over time without internal supporting structures large clay figures would slowly sag. He solved this in his own way. He used a honeycomb of supporting cells within the figure, then covered it with a ceramic “skin.” The whole figure was then fired just once. Some of his figures weighed over a ton.

After leaving Cranbrook in 1933, he and Yolande moved to New Jersey where they built their home. It included an enormous kiln that allowed him to continue creating large statuary. The New Deal’s Works Progress Administration had state art directors. Gregory was named director for New Jersey, which gave him a staff of ten workers and art commissions for public buildings.

His “Light Dispelling Darkness” is a monumental fountain of six working-class men upholding the earth while putting down scourges of humanity in the midst of a 40-foot basin. It stands in Roosevelt Park in Edison, New Jersey. He also made terracotta murals for many public buildings.

He was tapped to make a fountain for the World’s Fair in 1939. His “Fountain of the Atom” included four tall figures representing earth, air, fire and water, below and surrounding them were eight male and female figures representing electrons. Glass tubes rose above the elemental figures sending water gushing down into two lower basins. Atop it all was a constant flame. It was made to be dismantled once the fair ended. The figures are in various collections now.

He prepared a four-tile mural named “R.F.D.” of a rural postman on horseback for the post office in Columbus, Kansas, in 1940. The tiles were shipped to Columbus safely. But upon examination, officials decided the walls of the building would not support the weighty tiles. So they were re-crated and moved to the basement where they stayed for the next 32 years. In 1972 after Gregory’s death, a reporter with the Wichita Beacon was searching for lost WPA art projects. She visited Columbus, and the assistant to the postmaster told her the tiles were still in the basement. They were in fine condition and they were later incorporated into the Columbus Community Building.

His largest mural was “Democracy in Action,” an 81-foot mural showing police officers and firefighters at work. It was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1941.

With World War II, the market for monumental sculptures ended. Gregory turned to retail marketing of glass and ceramics. He developed a unique method of fusing glass and ceramic in 1944, referred to as “jeweled crystals.”

He made figurines, decorative plates and ornaments that sold in jewelry stores such as Tiffany’s, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The stores often held exhibitions of his works promoting them and keeping his name in the public eye. It rewarded him well financially for 20 years.

In 1963, he became involved in a scandal. A former student and then benefactor, Barbara Farmer, was murdered by her jealous husband who accused Gregory of having an affair with her. The husband, Charles Farmer, was convicted and sentenced to the Trenton State Prison for the Criminally Insane.

In the aftermath, Gregory’s work turned to religious themes. He made stained glass windows using his fusion method.

In 1971, Gregory died from complications from ulcers at age 66. He was buried in Lowell cemetery, in Lowell, Kansas.

Said one art historian, “... (he) designed and created the first monumental ceramic sculptures of modern times and helped to elevate ceramics from a decorative to a fine art. Today, Gregory’s work is well represented in museum and private collections.”

Bill Caldwell is the retired librarian at The Joplin Globe. If you have a question you’d like him to research, send an email to [email protected] or leave a message at 417-627-7261.

An online exhibit of Waylande Gregory's work can be found here.

https://beach.k-state.edu/explore/exhibitions/waylande-gregory-art-deco-ceramics-and-the-atomic-impulse.html

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