 Photograph by Bill Aron, Image courtesy of Pucker Gallery |
Brother Thomas Bezanson | |
| Birth Date: August 5, 1929 |
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| Death Date: August 16, 2007 Artist Gallery |
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| Brother Thomas Bezanson pursued his art education at the collegiate level. In 1950, he graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and later received an MA in Philosophy from the University of Ottawa. In 1953, Bezanson worked as a potter for six years before entering a Benedictine Monastery in Weston, Vermont.
While living as a Benedictine monk, Bezanson travelled to Japan, where he was deeply influenced by Japanese craftsmanship. Several years after his trip abroad, Bezanson left Vermont to become an artist-in-residence at the community of Benedictine Sisters in Erie, Pennsylvania. Bezanson lived in this community for twenty two years, as he felt the atmosphere provided greater artistic freedom.
Bezanson’s works feature simple forms with splashes of vivid glaze, which he created from natural elements. The combination of carefully crafted vessels with sporadic and vibrant exteriors expresses a balance of control in his body of work. His artwork has been collected by over eighty international collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Brother Thomas Bezanson is also the namesake of The Brother Thomas Fund, which was established at the Boston Foundation in 2007 to honor his legacy. The fund gives an unrestricted award of $15,000 to each fellow, as Bezanson wanted the sale of his artwork to benefit struggling artists.
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