Florence Chernoff Ceramic Relief, Pittsburgh PA. Three Rivers, 1967 Stoneware

An architecturally scaled ceramic wall sculpture by Florence Chernoff, executed in 1967 and conceived as a sculptural aerial abstraction of Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers district. The work reads less as a traditional plaque and more as a compact cityscape—an elevated, relief-built composition that bridges studio ceramics and architectural model-making.

Constructed in high-fired stoneware, the sculpture is composed of hundreds of individually cut, stacked, and kiln-fired elements arranged in pronounced low relief. Rectilinear blocks and angled planes rise and recede across the surface, evoking dense urban massing, river corridors, and infrastructural geometry. A restrained palette of natural clay bodies—warm ochres, charcoal blacks, and pale stone—anchors the work, while selective glazed passages in celadon, blue, and oxblood articulate waterways and visual movement.

The tactile surface alternates between matte, granular textures and crackled glazed fields, creating strong shadow play and a distinctly architectural presence on the wall. The depth of the relief (3 inches) reinforces its sculptural identity, allowing it to function as a wall-mounted object rather than a purely pictorial work.

Chernoff’s approach reflects the academic modernist ceramic movement of the 1960s, when artists increasingly explored relief construction, urban abstraction, and the intersection of craft and architecture. Signed, titled, and dated 1967, the sculpture stands as a materially rich, site-responsive work with strong decorative and spatial impact.