Status message

Your information has been submitted.

   Printer version

Richard Notkin, Richard T. Notkin

Biography to Display: 

1948Born Chicago, Illinois

EDUCATION

1970BFA Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri

1973MFA University of California at Davis, Davis, California

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1971-1973Teaching Assistant, UC Davis

PresentIndependent Studio Artist, Helena, Montana

APPRENTICESHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

1976, 1978Resident Artist, Arts/Industry Residency Program, Kohler Company, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

1981Artist in Residence, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana

 BIOGRAPHY

Richard Notkin is best known for his reinterpretations of traditional Chinese Yixing teapots that comment on the human condition. His porcelain pieces deal with the environmental, political, and economic impacts of contemporary human civilization on the ecological and spiritual condition of our planet. 

Notkin has been influenced by his teachers, Ken Ferguson and Robert Arneson. Notkin combines a respect for form with sharp social commentary.

Yixing teapots, dating from 1526, were among the first teapot forms made in China. They were also among the first made by craftsmen known to have signed their work with a chop. Notkin replaced the Chinese lexicon of symbols with his own, demonstrating the possibility of relaying powerful truths through this simple form.

While finishing his MFA, Notkin was a teaching assistant for Robert Arneson at UC Davis. He continued teaching in programs across the United States as a visiting lecturer or artist, although he primarily identifies as a full-time studio artist (see CV).

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Public Collections to Display: 

Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto, Japan

Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, New York

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Kunstindustrimuseet, Oslo, Norway

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri

Newark Museum of Art, Newark, New Jersey

Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography to Display: 

Lark Crafts. The Best of 500 Ceramics: Celebrating a Decade in Clay. Ashville, NC: Lark Crafts, 2012.

Notkin, Richard. Strong Tea: Richard Notkin and the Yixing Tradition. Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1990.

Zakin, Richard. Ceramics: Mastering the Craft. Madison, WI: Krause Publications, 2001.

 

CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download

CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Elaine Levin Archives, University of Southern California

 

Typical Marks
1973
1974
1980
1983
1986
1988-1992
2000
2006
2013
Untitled
Date: 1973
Form: Sculpture
Materials: Earthenware, Mixed Media
Method: Hand-Built, Cast
Surface Technique: Glaze, Incised
Everson Museum of Art Collection gift of Les Levine, 1984
Photo: John Polak
Everson Museum of Art Collection gift of Les Levine, 1984
NOTKIN on brick
Photo: John Polak
NOTKIN on brick
Photo: John Polak
Barrel Cup and Saucer #1
Date: 1974
Materials: Porcelain
Method: Hand-Built
Dimensions: H. 2.63 x W. 5.88 inches
Surface Technique: Glaze, Luster
Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection, Gift of Barbara S. Rosenthal and Kenneth W. Juster, 1998, 1998.533.4ab
Photo: TMP
Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection, Gift of Barbara S. Rosenthal and Kenneth W. Juster, 1998, 1998.533.4ab
Photo: TMP
Monumentally Earthbound III
Date: 1980
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Slip-Cast, Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze
Hieronymus
Hieronymus
Cooling Towers Teapot #3B, Yixing Series
Date: 1983
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Hand-Built, Cast
Surface Technique: Unglazed
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Margaret Pennington Collection
Photo: John Polak
Cube Skull Teapot #6, Yixing Series
Date: 1985
Form: Teapot
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Hand-Built, Cast
Surface Technique: Burnished
Everson Museum of Art Collection, purchase prize given by Robert and Dorothy Riester Fund, 27th Ceramic National Ceramic National, 1966
Photo: John Polak
Everson Museum of Art Collection, purchase prize given by Robert and Dorothy Riester Fund, 27th Ceramic National Ceramic National, 1966
Photo: John Polak
Photo: John Polak
Heart Teapot: Homage to Archie Bray
Date: 1988-1992
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Hand-Built
Dimensions: H. 6.13 x W. 11.5 x D. 4.75 inches
Surface Technique: Glaze
Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection, Gift of Barbara S. Rosenthal and Kenneth W. Juster, 2002, 2002.584.1ab
Photo: TMP
Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection, Gift of Barbara S. Rosenthal and Kenneth W. Juster, 2002, 2002.584.1ab
Photo: TMP
Ashtray Grouping
Date: 2000
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Press Mold, Hand-Built
The Clay Studio Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photo: TMP
The Clay Studio Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Heart Teapot: Internal Combustion Metamorphosis
Date: ca. 2013
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Hand-Built, Cast
Surface Technique: Glaze
"Lineage: The Art of Mentorship" exhibition, 2014, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York
Photo: Loren Maron
"Lineage: The Art of Mentorship" exhibition, 2014, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York
Photo: Loren Maron
Photo: Loren Maron
Landform Teapot, Variation #20
Date: ca 2014
Form: Teapot
Method: Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Unglazed
"TeaTime: Annual National Invitational," 2014, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York
Photo: Loren Maron
"TeaTime: Annual National Invitational," 2014, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York
Pre-Columbian Pyramidal Skull III
Date: 1979
Form: Sculpture
Materials: Ceramic
Hieronymus
Hieronymus
Barbed Wire Tile
Date: 2006
Materials: Terracotta
Method: Press Mold
Hieronymus
Hieronymus
Christ Hand Tile
Date: 2006
Materials: Terracotta
Method: Press Mold
Hieronymus
Hieronymus

Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified August 7, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/notkin

TAGS

trompe l'oeil, Archie Bray Foundation, John Michael Kohler Arts Center , Arts/Industry, Scripps College Ceramic Annual, Davis, California, Helena, Montana