Dr. Louise Josephson

Collector, Curator, Confidant

The Reductionists

It was 1955 when Dr. Josephson was first introduced to The Reductionists, by chance. This little known Artistic movement had its beginnings in 1925 Los Angles and were only interested in ideas, humor and distilling Art down to its creative source. Dr. Josephson was attending UC Berkeley to complete her PhD in linguistics, when she was invited by a fellow student to a gathering at the Mud Trap, a pottery co- op, founded by Cal Arts Graduate Jasper Ranahan in the North Beach section of San Francisco. Ranahan was a gorgeous former high school tennis player that moved like a leopard playing catch with a blind softball team. Ranahan was a formally trained potter, who had grown increasingly disinterested in functional ware, and fostered an environment that encouraged experimentation. Citing as crucial influences George Ohr for his innovative approach to glaze and from, and for her adventurous spirit Beatrice Wood. In those post WWII years North Beach was a vibrant gathering spot for the Avant guard poets, musicians and artists of the day. Long before the Hippie movement of the 1960’s and the Haight Ashbury Flower Child invasion, North Beach boiled with the Beatniks and their version of Cool. On arriving at the Mud Trap, Dr. Josephson quickly fell into an animated discussion with Trudy Zimmerman on the lack of female Artists given shows in the galleries that dotted Lombard, the Artist Zimmerman did letterpress setup by day, while trying to break into the fine art scene with her collage and ceramic work. Dr. Josephson could not have agreed more with Zimmerman. This was the beginning of Dr. Josephson introduction and fascination with Zimmerman’s band of cohorts and friends, who were all making work and challenging the conventions of world of ceramics and decorative art under the guiding hand and ethos of Ranahan and...The Reductionists.