Waylande Desantis Gregory

Estate of Yolande Gregory (the artist's wife)

Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Annual Exhibition of Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings and Prints, 1936
Syracuse, New York, Everson Museum of Art; Trenton, the New Jersey State Museum, The Diversions of Keramos, American Clay Sculpture 1925-1950, 1983-1984

in good overall condition; several scattered small and minor surface cracks; the young child's penis is missing
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A resident of Warren, New Jersey, Gregory was a prominent figure in the WPA in that state.  In fact, he was the first 20th century American ceramic artist to create significant monumental ceramic sculptures.  His first major outdoor work, Light Dispelling Darkness, sponsored by the WPA, is still on view as a fountain in Roosevelt Park.  Another major commission was Fountain of the Atom for the 1939 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow Park, Queens.  It was comprised of twelve monumental ceramic figures representing the components of the atom.   His larger  sculptures, of which the present Mother and Child is the largest, measure over 70 inches in height and can weigh well over one ton.  To accommodate their construction, the artist pioneered his "honeycomb technique" in which he first created an infrastructure of honeycombed compartments over which he placed the surface "skin" of his figures.  The decade of the 1930s was a period when American sculptors began to look beyond the traditional media of bronze and marble.  Ceramics provided a significant alternative.  Gregory's sculptures paved the way for later ceramic sculptors, including Peter Voulkos, Robert Arneson and Viola Frey.

We are grateful to Dr. Thomas Folk for his help in the cataloguing of the following two lots.