Claude Horan (29 October 1917 – 11 June 2014) was an American ceramic and glass artist who was born in
Long Beach, California.[1] He received a BA from
San Jose State University in 1942 and an MA degree in art from
Ohio State University in 1946. His wife
Suzi Pleyte Horan collaborated on many of the larger projects. He was a lifeguard and longboard surfer in Santa Cruz in the late 1930s, and is credited with naming
Steamer Lane.
Standing Female Figure, in the collection of the
Honolulu Museum of Art is an example of the whimsical ceramic figurines for which he is best known. He begins with a cylindrical vessel on the potter's wheel, onto which he sculpts human features.[3] The
Hawaii State Art Museum, the
Honolulu Museum of Art, the
Museum of Arts and Design (New York City), and the Division of Ceramics and Glass of the
National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.) are among the public collections holding work by Claude Horan.[4][5] His sculptures in public places include:
Radford, Georgia and Warren Radford, Sculpture in the Sun, Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces, University of Hawaii Press, 1978, 79, 93–4.
Wisnosky, John and Tom Klobe, A Tradition of Excellence, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu, 2002, pp. 60–63
Yoshihara, Lisa A., Collective Visions, 1967-1997, An Exhibition Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the
State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Program, Presented at the
Honolulu Academy of Arts, September 3-October 12, 1997, Honolulu, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1997, p. 123.