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, 1978Dora De Larios, Sculpture, c.1960Dora De Larios, Sculpture, c.1960Rex Mason, Vessel, 1963
Rex Mason, Vessel lid detail, 1963Rex Mason, Vessel base detail, 1963
Dr. Robert Fritz, Vessel, 1960’s Dr. Robert Fritz, Vessel detail, 1960’s
Antonio Prieto, Vessel, Circa 1964Antonio Prieto, Vessel detail, Circa 1964
Laura Andreson, Vessel, 1976
John Lewis, 1974John Lewis, 1974
Jim Wayne, Circa 1970, Jim Wayne, Circa 1970Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, Museum 1993, 1961
Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, Museum 1993, 1961Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, Museum 1993, 1961Laura Andreson, Lidded Box, 1969Laura Andreson, Lidded Box, 1969Laura Andreson, Lidded Box, 1969Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, 1942Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, 1942
Gertrud and Otto Natzler, Bowl, 1942
Albert and Louisa King, Lidded container, 1950Albert and Louisa King, Lidded container, 1950Albert and Louisa King, Lidded container lid detail, 1950
Laura Andreson, Bowl, 1939Laura Andreson, Bowl, 1939Margaret De Patta, Brooch, 1954-60
Marry Renk, Brooch, 1981Marry Renk, Brooch detail, 1981Merry Renk, Vessel, 1960sMerry Renk, Vessel detail, 1960sMerry Renk, Vessel detail, 1960sPeter Voulkos, Plate detail, 1952Peter Voulkos, Plate, 1952
F. Carlton Ball, Early 1960s
F. Carlton Ball, detail, Early 1960sTom McMillin, Lidded Vessel, 1960
Tom McMillin, Lidded Vessel detail, 1960Marguerite Wildenhain, Footed Bowl, 1970s
Forrest L. Merrill CollectionRaul Coronel, Lidded Container, 1963
Raul Coronel, Lidded Container detail, 1963Bob Stocksdale, Bowl, Turned wood 1974, Henry Takemoto, Vessel, 1957Henry Takemoto, Vessel, 1957
Henry Takemoto, Vessel detailHarold (Hal) Eaton Riegger, Sculpture, 1960sHarold (Hal) Eaton Riegger, Sculpture detail, 1960sWin Ng, 1960’s
Mary Lindheim, Abstract Vessel, Pit Fired bowl, Earthenware, 1958Mary Lindheim, Abstract Vessel, Pit Fired bowl top, Earthenware, 1958Mary Lindheim, Abstract Vessel, Pit Fired bowl detail, Earthenware, 1958J.B. Blunk, Small plate, 1960sJ.B. Blunk, Small plate detailJune Schwarcz, Bowl, 1966June Schwarcz, Bowl, 1966
June Schwarcz, Bowl, 1966, Carl Jennings, JugCarl Jennings, Jug detailCarl Jennings, Jug handle detailCarl Jennings, StandCarl Jennings, Stand top detailCarl Jennings, Stand underside detailDr. Herbert H. Sanders, Lidded vase, 1960sDr. Herbert H. Sanders, Lidded vase detail, 1960sElena Netherby, Vessel, 1960sElena Netherby, Vessel top detail, 1960sElena Netherby, Vessel base detail, 1960s
Kenneth Dierck, Triptych, 1960sKenneth Dierck, Triptych detail, 1960sKenneth Dierck, Triptych detail, 1960s
Vivika and Otto Heino, Vase, 1974
Vivika and Otto Heino, Vase detail, 1974Vivika and Otto Heino, Vase detail, 1974Harrison McIntosh, Bowl, Circa 1950Harrison McIntosh, Bowl, Circa 1950
Richard Petterson, Teapot, 1970’sRichard Petterson, Teapot detail, 1970’s
Kenneth Starbird, 12 Tribes, 1961Kenneth Starbird, 12 Tribes detail, 1961Kenneth Starbird, 12 Tribes detail, 1961
Stan Dann, Landscape with Rider, 1965Stan Dann, Landscape with Rider detail, 1965 Betty Davenport Ford, Antelope, c1950Betty Davenport Ford, Antelope, c1950Betty Davenport Ford, Antelope, c1950
Beatrice Wood, Figure, 1970’sBeatrice Wood, Figure, 1970’s
Erik Gronborg, Plate, 1970’sErik Gronborg, Plate detail, 1970’s
Eunice Prieto, Plate, Glazed Stoneware, 1970’sPeter VandenBerge, Sculpture, 1970’s
David Cressey, Planter, Circa 1963David Cressey, Planter, Circa 1963
Paul Volckening, Vessel, 1961Paul Volckening, Vessel, 1961
John Burton, Vessels, 1970’s
Barbara Willis, Pillow Vase, 1940’s,Barbara Willis, Pillow Vase, 1940’s
Arthur Espenet Carpenter, Stool, 1967Arthur Espenet Carpenter, Stool detail, 1967James Lovera, BowlBowl detailCoille Hooven, Teapot, 1976Teapot handle detail Teapot lid detailKay Sekimachi, Early b/w check weaving, Forrest L. Merrill CollectionKay Sekimachi, Early b/w check weaving, Forrest L. Merrill Collection