“I think you should be delighted that some of your contemporaries are capitalizing on your ideas to their advantage. You’re fair game along with the rest of us, and when the quality of your work is worth copying, well, it is sort of a tribute. Eventually, the people will come to know and recognize the source of the innovation.”

- From an unidentified artist friend.

A Concluding Note

I first encountered Ben Sams' sculpture at the Fountain Gallery in Portland, Oregon shortly after his first exhibit there in 1971. I met him and his wife, Cynthia, at his second exhibit there in 1976.

It is difficult to convey the impact of Sams' art in the 1960s and 70s. Galleries and reviewers were ecstatic. Claims such as "SAMS is perhaps the foremost ceramic sculptor in the country today.” (Reviews) or "Ben Sams is a master-- he’s the best ceramic sculptor in the world since Picasso.” (Reviews) may be exaggerations, but they show the immense enthusiasm that there was for his work. As shown in Videos, he was interviewed on television at least four times.

The 1950s and 60s were a time of significant, even revolutionary, development in ceramics — moving it from craft to sculpture and fine art. Sams explicity said that this development was his long-time personal goal.

The artist friend quoted in the heading acknowledges Sams’ originality and innovation, but he does not identify them. Sams states that he had refined or invented various building techniques and tool assemblages, but he does not specify them. (Sams and Ceramics) It likely includes sectioning, which he said was his most important contribution to ceramics in his letter to LaMar Harrington. (Writings) He also notes there his application of printmaking techniques, especially the collagraph, to ceramics. In his commentary, John Armstrong claims that this is Sams’ genius and unique contribution:

Ben’s genius lies in his combining clay construction with collagraphic embellishments. This was a unique contribution, and it is why it is impossible to place him on a hierarchical scale with his peers. His work is incomparable in every respect. It remains unsurpassed in quality and range, while being totally different in nature. He was a genius who must be judged in isolation on his own merits.

In a seprate note Armstrong comments on Sams’ historical significance in regard to the hippy movement in the 1960s:

Therein lies the real importance of the sculpture of Ben Sams. Just as Janis Joplin was the icon of the hippy movement in music, Robert Crumb in hippy and psychedelic art, Hunter S. Thompson and Dr. Timothy Leary as psychedelically charged literary giants, Ben was a keeper of traditions and chronicler of the times in ceramics.

Others view Sams as a genius in glazing. Sams specifically mentions that he researched glaze composition, continuously experimented with it, and formulated many of his glazes. (Sams and Ceramics) According to one review, he mixed his own glazes, developed a large number of new glaze formulas, and used a palette of more than 200 glazes. (Reviews)

As Armstrong also points out in his note, the scope of Sams’ work is remarkable, ranging from seriously religious and cultural to fantasy and humor, and from pieces of jewelry to a seven-foot figure. (Earth Mother)

Finally, it should be noted that despite his impressive productivity and significant development, Sams was fully active in his art for only a few years, from around 1964 to 1979 and part of 2002.

A recent article in the British magazine, Art & Museum, is entitled, “Ben Sams, A Nearly Forgotten Genius in Modern Ceramic Sculpture.” (Spring, 2019, page 24). If true, hopefully, it will not remain so. (Art & Museum)

The last time I saw Ben Sams was by chance at his home in Snohomish in late May 2002, less than a month before his sudden, tragic death.

Robert Dale

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It was Cynthia Sams who entrusted me with the development of this site and provided almost all of its content. Her encouragement and support were invaluable. It is profoundly sad that she did not live to see it completed or the recent exhibit of her husband’s work at the Portland Art Museum. 

I want to express my deep appreciation to:

Dana Boussard, Sam’s first wife, for her encouragement and the invaluable information she provided. It should be noted that she played a significant, perhaps decisive, role in Ben’s amazing productivity and public success when he was a student.

John Armstrong for his support and major contributions to the site. His Commentary and other correspondence provide unique and insightful views of Sams’ art and contribution.

SAGE (Senior Advocates for Generational Equality), a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of future generations for generous support for this project through its Legacy Fellowship program.

And, especially, my wife, Irene, for her unwavering support and unbounded patience.