Thomas Bezanson

Brother Thomas Bezanson (5 August 1929 – 16 August 2007) was a Canadian-born artist and Benedictine monk primarily known for his porcelain pottery and mastery of complex glazes. Strongly influenced by Asian pottery, he often adapted traditional Chinese and Japanese pottery methods and materials to his work.

Early life and education Brother Thomas was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a descendant of Irish and Scottish families that had been in Nova Scotia for many generations. In 1950 he graduated from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He also spent some time in New York City studying at Art Students League of New York. From 1951 to 1958 he both worked in business and was an advisor to the Nova Scotia Handcraft Century. He began working in pottery in 1953. In 1958–59 he traveled and studied in Europe.

Monastic life and career In 1959, he entered the Benedictine Monastery, Weston Priory, in Weston, Vermont. In 1968 he graduated from the University of Ottawa with a master's degree in philosophy and a University Gold Medal. In 1976 he was a visiting lecturer at Alfred University School of Ceramics. In 1978 he traveled to Japan and Taipei. While in Japan he met five Living National Treasure potters. In 1983 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant. From 1985 until his death, he was the artist-in-residence at Mount Saint Benedict in Erie, Pennsylvania.

His works are held in more than 80 museum collections. One piece, initially rejected by the artist, is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Death Brother Thomas died at his home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on 16 August 2007.

Brother Thomas Fund The Brother Thomas Fund was established under the auspices of the Boston Foundation upon the artist's death. Since 2007, proceeds from the sale of his work have supported the fund. In October 2009, the first eight Brother Thomas Fellowships were awarded to mid-career Boston artists, each receiving $15,000.

The fund is also supported by donations and by sales of Brother Thomas's work through the Pucker Gallery in Boston. , the fund had awarded $1,080,000 in grants to 72 artists. Fellowships are awarded every two years.

Exhibitions and honors National Endowment for the Arts Grant, 1983 Retrospective Exhibition, Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania, 1990 Retrospective Exhibition, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1991

Known collections Aidekman Art Center, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts Allen Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois Bunting Institute, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec, Canada Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York, New York Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts Dimock Gallery, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Framingham State University, Framingham, Massachusetts Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine Pucker Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts Roberson Museum and Science Center, Binghamton, New York The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York Smithsonian American Art Museum Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa, Israel University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts Vatican Collection, Rome, Italy Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England Windsor Castle, Windsor, England Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Publications