Matthias Ostermann

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Matthias Ostermann (1951–2009) was a Canadian potter, artist and author. He was born in Wangen im Allgäu, West Germany, in 1951 and moved to Canada with his mother in 1953, growing up in Toronto. In his late teens, he was introduced to ceramics by Isolde Rest and began his pottery career in 1974. He traveled and worked in Ireland, West Germany, Italy and Australia before settling in Montreal in the early 1990s, where he lived until his death.

Ostermann died in Montreal on April 19, 2009, from HIV-related lymphoma. Early in his life he spent a year throwing at Shanagarry pottery in Ireland, where he honed his technical skills in earthenware and stoneware. From 1981 onward he specialized in low-fired tin-glaze pottery for functional ware, sculpture and wall tiles, and later explored Asian high-fire glazes. He also drew and painted on surfaces, becoming known for maiolica and copper sgraffito. His storytelling influence came from his mother, who was a professional storyteller in Germany. He was widely recognized for his teaching and knowledge of ceramic history and technique.

Ostermann exhibited and taught in many countries, including Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Scandinavia, New Zealand, the United States and the UK. He wrote three books on ceramics: The New Maiolica (1999), The Ceramic Surface (2002) and The Ceramic Narrative (2006). His final body of work, Boats of Passage, addresses his HIV diagnosis and explores mortality, relationships and change through boats, figures and drawings on vessels.

His final exhibition, Boats of Passage, was held in 2008 at Prime Gallery in Toronto. His work is in major collections such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the V&A Museum in London, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. In 2010 he was honored posthumously as an Honorary Member of the American National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts. His life and Boats of Passage were later the subject of a 2016 play by Montreal writer Marcel Pomerlo. In 2023, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery organized an exhibit honoring Ostermann and his work.