Axel Salto and His Expressive Stoneware
Axel Salto’s expressive stoneware continues to tantalise the senses and appear completely extraordinary to this day. With his distinctive, organic style, Axel Salto transcended the boundaries of ceramics and transformed the discipline from pottery into real art. He started out as an academy-trained painter. Following a trip to Paris in 1916 – and his meeting with Pablo Picasso – Salto founded the Danish art journal “Klingen”, creating a forum for all things new happening in the world of art and literature, as well as contemporary opinion. The journal existed from 1917–1920 on Salto’s initiative and was financed by himself with the help of an inheritance. Its co-editors included Otto Gelsted and Poul Henningsen. From 1921, a group of the former editors of the journal formed the artists’ association De Fire (The Four), consisting of Salto himself and his artist friends Vilhelm Lundstrøm, Svend Johansen and Karl Larsen. The association led to an artistic cooperative rooted in shared opinions in the South of France.
Axel Salto, Bing & Grøndahl and the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory
Axel Salto was brought home from the southern sun by Bing & Grøndahl to make ceramics for the Paris Exposition in 1925. These works, in brightly coloured porcelain, were inspired by Chinese Ming porcelain and were followed by renewed efforts within stoneware from 1929 to the mid-1950s. Some of Salto’s first work with the new material was the so-called polychrome porcelain which he created for the porcelain factory Bing & Grøndahl. From the mid-1930s, Salto was associated with the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory, where he had the opportunity to resume a fruitful collaboration with Carl Halier. Together, they developed the sprouting style, inspired by growing plants. Based on the development of the motif universe and the techniques used, the style was divided into “the rippled”, “the budding” and “the sprouting style”. Creating in the spirit of nature was the guiding principle for Salto. The budding, sprouting and rippled shapes and rich glazes bring to mind a teaming forest floor or flora from beneath the surface of the sea.
Axel Salto’s Sublime Works With Rich Glazes
At the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory, it was, among other things, Salto’s collaboration with engineer H.A.L. Madslund that would characterise his works. Madslund was the master behind the sulphur-yellow solfatara glaze, reminiscent of moist, earthy nature, which became a hallmark of Salto’s work. The meeting between the fired clay and the molten glaze became in itself a study in aesthetics in Salto’s later works. The glazes were applied to the surface, both thickly and thinly. Today, Salto’s sublime works are sought-after collectors’ items all over the world – and on the auction market, too.
From 1951 to 1959, Salto headed the renewal of Jørgen Sonne’s frieze at Thorvaldsens Museum. He was a member of Grønningen from 1935–1945. Today, Salto is regarded as one of the most significant Danish ceramicists, who has put Danish ceramics on the world map.
Axel Salto at Exhibition
Kleis’ Kunsthandel, Cph. 1911; Charlottenborg. Spring 1914–15; Den frie Udstilling 1916–19; Grafisk Kunstnersamfund 1917; Aarhus 1918; Stockholm 1919; “De Fire” 1921, 1923–25, 1928; Oslo 1924; Charlottenborg 1925; Paris Exposition 1925 and 1937; Brooklyn Museum, N.Y. 1927; Leipzig 1927; Helsinki 1928; Forum 1929; Helsinki 1931; Czechoslovakia 1933 (graphics); Grønningen 1934, 1936–45; Stedelijk Mus., Amsterdam 1934; London 1938; Helsinki 1939; Stockholm 1948; the Danish Museum of Art & Design 1939; the National Gallery of Denmark 1940–41; Aarhus, et al. 1941–42; Charlottenborg’s Autumn Exhibition 1944, 1954 and 1961; Kunstnerforeningen af 18. Nov. 1945; Gothenburg 1945; Oslo 1946; Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design Oslo, et al. 1947; Gemeente Mus., The Hague 1948, Reykjavík 1948; Gravure Contemporaine, Paris 1949; Kunstnernes Hus, Bergen 1953; Vejle Kunstmuseum 1981; Kalmar Kunstmuseum 1997.
Solo exhibitions: Gal. Moderne, Stockholm 1929; Kunsthallen, Cph. 1930; Winkel & Magnussen, Cph. 1931–32, 1938, 1952; Kunstforeningen 1935; the Danish Museum of Art & Design 1939, 1954 and 1989; Fischer & Krarup, Cph. 1940, 1942, 1943–44; Ny Kunst, Cph. 1947; Charlottenborg, et al. 1949–50 (retrosp.); Nat.mus., Stockholm 1952; Thorvaldsens Museum 1953; Aarhus City Hall 1952 (retrosp.); Det danske hus, Paris 1956; Lunds Konsthal, et al. 1958; Moderna Mus., Stockholm 1959; Kunstforeningen 1959; Skovgaard Museet 1978; Glyptoteket 1995; Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg 1996; CLAY 2017; Øregaard Museum 2019; CLAY 2023–24: Museet Holmen 2024.
Some of Axel Salto’s Nominations, Grants and Awards
1915, 1922–23, 1926 and 1929 – the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
1921 – Oluf Hartmann’s Grant
1925 – Silver medal, Paris Exposition
1937 – Grand prix, Paris Exposition
1938 – The Eckersberg Medal
1951 – Grand prix, Triennale Milano
1959 – The Prince Eugen Medal
1959 – Awarded the State’s lifelong arts grant
1959 – Honorary member of Kunstnerforeningen af 18. nov. 1959
1959 – Gold medal, international ceramics exhibition, Musée des beaux-arts, Ostende, Belgium
Works by Axel Salto for Sale at Bruun Rasmussen
At Bruun Rasmussen, we have works for sale that arouse interest and are relevant to buyers and collectors. Here, you can keep an eye on the works by Axel Salto that you can bid on right now.
If you’re a seller, you can read our guide on how to sell art at our Live and Online Auctions here.
