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A rounded sculpture that looks like it has five thick legs

Sonny, 2003, Ken Price (American, 1935–2012), ceramic, acrylic paint, Museum Purchase: Lawrence Archer Wachs Fund, 2004.12, © Ken Price.

A head-shaped vessel with a colorful landscape painting on the surface

Lunar Life Dreamer, 1984, Michael Lucero (American, b. 1953), glazed earthenware, The Nancy and David Wolf Collection, 2014.27, © Michael Lucero 2019.

A jar with a blue head that has many eyes

Blue Multi-Eyed Guardian Jar, 1988-1989, Kirk Mangus (American, 1952–2013), stoneware, colored slips, salt glaze, Museum Purchase: Phyllis H. Thayer Purchase Fund, 2016.41, © Estate of Kirk Mangus.

A series of nine dark, square panels mounted in two tight columns

Shared Identity II, 2006–2016, Ana England (American, b. 1953), carved and carbonized ceramic, Museum Purchase: Phyllis H. Thayer Purchase Fund, 2017.72a-j, © Ana England 2016.

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Modern and Contemporary Ceramics

March 4, 2023–June 30, 2024

Gallery 222 & 223

In 1881, contemporary ceramics were among the first works of art acquired by the newly founded Cincinnati Art Museum. Large, densely packed display cases, filled with freshly created pottery, greeted museum visitors when the original building debuted in 1886. Works by independent local ceramic artists and those from the Rookwood Pottery and other Cincinnati art potteries were displayed next to contemporary British and French wares. And so it began, the museum’s dedication to collecting exemplary works in clay by current makers.

This gallery features a small selection of the museum’s collection of ceramics made over the last seven decades by regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized artists. Each has had a profound impact on the field of ceramics as educators and creators. Working with a material born of this earth—clay—they adeptly manifest and explore countless ideas and issues, including artistic hierarchies, human emotion, gender, memory, myth, and the environment.