Martz, Karl, 1912-1997

World-renowned as a glaze chemist and ceramist, Karl Martz joined the faculty of the new School of Fine Arts at Indiana University in 1945, where he remained until 1977.

From the description of Karl Martz papers, 1949-1992. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 519786260

Born in Columbus, Ohio, on June 24, 1912, Karl Martz and his family moved to Bloomington, IN, where he graduated from Bloomington High School in 1929. He then attended Indiana University, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1933. He went on to combine his dual interests in art and science through the study of ceramics in graduate school at The Ohio State University in the mid 1930s, studying under well-known ceramicists such as Edgar Littlefield, Arthur Baggs, and Carleton Atherton. Martz began his professional career in 1934, working as an apprentice at the Brown County Potter. After marrying Becky Brown in 1935, he established his own studio and shop in Nashville, Indiana.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Martz was employed by the Armour Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, where he conducted defense industry research. In the evenings he taught ceramics classes at the Institute of Design under the direction of Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, founder of the Bauhaus. Upon the close of the war in 1945, Martz returned to Bloomington and was hired to head the ceramics program in the new Indiana University School of Fine Arts directed by Henry Hope. During his celebrated 32 year career, his courses not only covered the technical application of ceramics, but also the history of ceramics. He spent sabbaticals in Kyoto and Machiko, Japan, and held the Bingham Professorship at the University of Louisville for the spring term of 1975. In addition to teaching, he participated in several workshops and symposia, and produced several educational films demonstrating the techniques of pottery making. One of these was recognized by the Cleveland film festival, and another was used by the U.S. State Department as a teaching tool. In 1989 Governor Robert D. Orr named Martz a Distinguished Hoosier and in 1992 he was inducted into the prestigious American Craft Council College of Fellows in recognition of his excellence in craftsmanship and commitment to the crafts movement.

Martz’s work was included in exhibitions across the country and internationally, and today his ceramics are included in the permanent collection of numerous institutions, including the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Craft in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Indiana University Art Museum. The IU Art Museum honored Martz with a major retrospective of his work in 1977.

Karl Martz retired from the Indiana University faculty in May 1977 with the rank of Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts. He died on May 27, 1997 at the age of 84.

From the guide to the Karl Martz papers, 1949-1992, (Indiana University Office of University Archives and Records Management http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives)