Viktor Schreckengost
Birth Date: June 26, 1906
Death Date: January 26, 2008
Artist Gallery
Viktor Schreckengost was hailed as "an American Leonardo da Vinci" because of his wide range of accomplishments. He was skilled in painting, pottery, sculpture, and costume and set design, and was a pioneer of modern industrial design. Born in 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, Viktor's father was a potter, and Viktor found his creative roots there. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and then studied in Vienna, where he worked under potter Michael Powolny and architect Josef Hoffmann. When he returned to the United States, he exhibited and won awards for his paintings and sculptures while also working as a mass production designer and teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art. It was at the Institute that he created the first modern industrial design program in the United States. As a Professor, many of Viktor's students went on to change the toy and car industries. One of his students, Joe Oros, designed the Ford Mustang, a car that rescued Ford when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Other students landed careers designing for Little Tikes, and freely acknowledged the influence that Viktor had on their designs for children's toys. Viktor believed that good design should be accessible to everyone, and that fine arts should combine with functional/commercial arts, not conflict with them. Henry Adams wrote that Viktor's "love of life, people, and play [was] a fundamental quality of his designs." As a designer, Viktor worked for three different companies simultaneously and consulted for manufacturers and retailers such as Sears, Goodyear, JCPenney's, General Electric, and others. Over the breadth of his career, Viktor won more prizes at the Cleveland Museum of Art's May Show than any other artist. Every two weeks for over seventy years, he would create a significant work of art. He consistently created works that were original, ahead of their time, and influential on future generations. In the 1930s and 1940s he made lively clay statuettes, breaking from the tradition of classical allegory. His "Jazz Bowl" series is accepted as an icon of the Art Deco era. His political ceramics were entirely original, paving the way for the Funk Aesthetic thirty years later. In the 1940s, his original clay slab forms would eventually inspire the ceramics of Peter Voulkos. Viktor was known for his childlike character traits combined with a steadfast discipline. The combination of these qualities made for a man with endless creativity, who wasn't afraid to work hard and set his mind to complete a goal. Many times, his ideas revolutionized an industry (such as his idea to put the truck engine under the cab), and his playful designs speak to our inner child. He knew that most adults were children at heart - and he was, too.