Stephen DeStaebler Sold at Auction Prices

Sculptor, b. 1933 - d. 2011

Stephen DeStaebler was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1933. Attending Princeton University, New Jersey, Destaebler earned an A.B. degree in religion in 1954. He pursued a degree in sculpture and received an M.A. degree in that field from the University of California, Berkeley in 1961. While there, DeStaebler took classes from Peter Voulkos from whom he learned the art of handling clay in large-scale works. After 1967 DeStaebler taught at San Francisco State University. DeStaebler moved away from strictly abstract-expressionist ceramic work like that of Voulkos to developed a figurative vocabulary in stoneware that suggest human elements with minimal information. His works have sectional components that make it possible for DeStaebler to create monumental forms of intricate detail. He uses various oxides and pigments in different firing temperatures to complement the rather fossilized-looking textures of his sculpture. After the 1970’s he began working in bronze to allow more flexibility in cantilevering his vertical figures. For a list of selected solo and group exhibitions see Directions in Contemporary American Ceramics, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1984.