California Visionaries: Seminal Studio Craft, Featuring Works from the Forrest L. Merrill Collection
Craft in America Center will inaugurate its newly-designed gallery with a landmark exhibition of over 50 historic key works by many of the most influential and innovative Californian craft artists from the mid-twentieth century.
California has been the fertile epicenter for craft investigation in the art world. Employing various materials, techniques and concepts, visionary Californian artists have been at the forefront of the American craft movement. Spanning ceramics, metal, wood, fiber and glass, the objects in California Visionaries: Seminal Studio Craft, Featuring Works from the Forrest L. Merrill Collection reflect the ingenuity and the birth of studio craft. These artists imagined new methods of achieving their vision.
After WWII, California became an especially important place for artists who turned their focus toward craft-based media and processes. Lured by climate, geography, and an inherent spirit of openness, artists who made the state their home found that they were unbounded in their pursuits. Numerous college and university programs were established in schools across the state offering unparalleled training in fiber, ceramics, metal, glass, and wood. California became a hub for creative production and artistic investigation.
This exhibition prominently features the collection of Forrest L. Merrill, widely considered the most significant collection of California studio craft. Merrill’s collection includes some of the finest examples of works made by revered Californian craft pioneers and visionaries over the past century. Since Merrill acquired his first work of art as a high school student, he has taken a visionary approach to collecting in seeking out technical innovation, subtlety, and material mastery. Merrill has supported the limitless possibilities of craft and formed deep friendships with the artists who create these works.
Merrill, through his distinctive approach to collecting, has played an important role in the story of craft. For him, the art and artist are inseparable and he nurtures the artists whose objects he discovers. One such artist is Bay Area resident Kay Sekimachi, who considers him a mentor and a friend. Sekimachi, whose acclaimed experimental work led her to invent complex on- and off-loom weaving techniques, will be featured in this exhibition.
This exhibition will celebrate Californian visionary artists who shaped the future with a far-reaching commitment to expand craft, art and design, break barriers and forge new visions all their own.
“I’m not particularly interested in just showing pretty things. I want the work to have a story. I want the artist, through their work, to tell a story.”
– Forrest L. Merrill
Emile Norman, Mosaic, 1978 Dora De Larios, Sculpture, c.1960 Dora De Larios, Sculpture, c.1960 Rex Mason, Vessel, 1963 Rex Mason, Vessel lid detail, 1963 Rex Mason, Vessel base detail, 1963 Dr. Robert Fritz, Vessel, 1960’s Dr. Robert Fritz, Vessel detail, 1960’s Antonio Prieto, Vessel, Circa 1964 Antonio Prieto, Vessel detail, Circa 1964 Laura Andreson, Vessel, 1976 John Lewis, 1974 John Lewis, 1974 Jim Wayne, Circa 1970, Jim Wayne, Circa 1970 Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, Museum 1993, 1961 Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, Museum 1993, 1961 Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, Museum 1993, 1961 Laura Andreson, Lidded Box, 1969 Laura Andreson, Lidded Box, 1969 Laura Andreson, Lidded Box, 1969 Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, 1942 Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, 1942 Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, 1942 Albert and Louisa King, Lidded container, 1950 Albert and Louisa King, Lidded container, 1950 Albert and Louisa King, Lidded container lid detail, 1950 Laura Andreson, Bowl, 1939 Laura Andreson, Bowl, 1939 Margaret De Patta, Brooch, 1954-60 Marry Renk, Brooch, 1981 Marry Renk, Brooch detail, 1981 Merry Renk, Vessel, 1960s Merry Renk, Vessel detail, 1960s Merry Renk, Vessel detail, 1960s Peter Voulkos, Plate detail, 1952 Peter Voulkos, Plate, 1952 F. Carlton Ball, Early 1960s F. Carlton Ball, detail, Early 1960s Tom McMillin, Lidded Vessel, 1960 Tom McMillin, Lidded Vessel detail, 1960 Marguerite Wildenhain, Footed Bowl, 1970s Forrest L. Merrill Collection Raul Coronel, Lidded Container, 1963 Raul Coronel, Lidded Container detail, 1963 Bob Stocksdale, Bowl, Turned wood 1974, Henry Takemoto, Vessel, 1957 Henry Takemoto, Vessel, 1957 Henry Takemoto, Vessel detail Harold (Hal) Eaton Riegger, Sculpture, 1960s Harold (Hal) Eaton Riegger, Sculpture detail, 1960s Win Ng, 1960’s Mary Lindheim, Abstract Vessel, Pit Fired bowl, Earthenware, 1958 Mary Lindheim, Abstract Vessel, Pit Fired bowl top, Earthenware, 1958 Mary Lindheim, Abstract Vessel, Pit Fired bowl detail, Earthenware, 1958 J.B. Blunk, Small plate, 1960s J.B. Blunk, Small plate detail June Schwarcz, Bowl, 1966 June Schwarcz, Bowl, 1966 June Schwarcz, Bowl, 1966, Carl Jennings, Jug Carl Jennings, Jug detail Carl Jennings, Jug handle detail Carl Jennings, Stand Carl Jennings, Stand top detail Carl Jennings, Stand underside detail Dr. Herbert H. Sanders, Lidded vase, 1960s Dr. Herbert H. Sanders, Lidded vase detail, 1960s Elena Netherby, Vessel, 1960s Elena Netherby, Vessel top detail, 1960s Elena Netherby, Vessel base detail, 1960s Kenneth Dierck, Triptych, 1960s Kenneth Dierck, Triptych detail, 1960s Kenneth Dierck, Triptych detail, 1960s Vivika and Otto Heino, Vase, 1974 Vivika and Otto Heino, Vase detail, 1974 Vivika and Otto Heino, Vase detail, 1974 Harrison McIntosh, Bowl, Circa 1950 Harrison McIntosh, Bowl, Circa 1950 Richard Petterson, Teapot, 1970’s Richard Petterson, Teapot detail, 1970’s Kenneth Starbird, 12 Tribes, 1961 Kenneth Starbird, 12 Tribes detail, 1961 Kenneth Starbird, 12 Tribes detail, 1961 Stan Dann, Landscape with Rider, 1965 Stan Dann, Landscape with Rider detail, 1965 Betty Davenport Ford, Antelope, c1950 Betty Davenport Ford, Antelope, c1950 Betty Davenport Ford, Antelope, c1950 Beatrice Wood, Figure, 1970’s Beatrice Wood, Figure, 1970’s Erik Gronborg, Plate, 1970’s Erik Gronborg, Plate detail, 1970’s Eunice Prieto, Plate, Glazed Stoneware, 1970’s Peter VandenBerge, Sculpture, 1970’s David Cressey, Planter, Circa 1963 David Cressey, Planter, Circa 1963 Paul Volckening, Vessel, 1961 Paul Volckening, Vessel, 1961 John Burton, Vessels, 1970’s Barbara Willis, Pillow Vase, 1940’s, Barbara Willis, Pillow Vase, 1940’s Arthur Espenet Carpenter, Stool, 1967 Arthur Espenet Carpenter, Stool detail, 1967 James Lovera, Bowl Bowl detail Coille Hooven, Teapot, 1976 Teapot handle detail Teapot lid detail Kay Sekimachi, Early b/w check weaving, Forrest L. Merrill Collection Kay Sekimachi, Early b/w check weaving, Forrest L. Merrill Collection
Photos by Denise Kang