Axel Salto is mainly remembered, today, for his ceramics: vases, tiles, bowls, lighting, and pure sculpture, all imbued with surging vitalism. The dramatic contours of these objects are devised to maximize visual drama. Glazes course lavishly down their sides, streaming and pooling like water over rocks in deep forest, rendering each piece utterly unique. The same basic design, once sheathed in various colors – Mussel Blue, Solfatara yellow, Oxblood red – takes on totally different aspects, just as nature itself does in varied light.

Salto, a painter, printmaker, essayist, ceramicist and philosopher of prismatic creative achievement, remains a unicorn – a figure without parallel, possessed of almost mythic power. To some extent, this extraordinary polymath will always elude us; like the springtime growth he so loved, he seems to have burst forth unbidden. “In the garden, twigs and leaves unfold from the branch,” he wrote in Den Spirende Stil, “and yes, we create in the spirit of nature while the vase obeys its own law.” Here, as often, he seems to suggest that his work had a life of its own. Like the rest of us, he could only watch and wonder, marveling at the possibilities contained in clay – the fact that humble earth can be made so gloriously alive.

Sotheby’s is thrilled to present this curated selection of pieces dedicated to the transformative ceramicist. Property will be on view in Sotheby’s New York galleries from June 6 - June 11, 2025.