John Mason

1927–

Introduction

John Mason (March 30, 1927 – January 20, 2019) was an American artist who did experimental work with ceramics. Mason's work focused on exploring the physical properties of clay and its "extreme plasticity". One of a group of artists who had studied under the pioneering ceramicist Peter Voulkos, he created wall reliefs and expressionistic sculptures, often on a monumental scale.

Wikidata identifier

Q6247051

View the full Wikipedia entry

Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed January 2, 2026.

Introduction

American sculptor who is credited with helping to expand the use of ceramics in the context of fine art. He was born Alva John Henry Jr. but changed his last name when he was adopted by his mother's second husband.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, ceramicist, sculptor

ULAN identifier

500100221

Names

John Mason, Alva John Henry Jr., Jr. Alva John Henry

View the full Getty record

Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed January 2, 2026.

Not on view

API
artists/14644



On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Frank WANG Yefeng, The Levitating Perils #2

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.