Otto & Gertrud Natzler Otto (1908 - 2007) Gertrud (1908 - 1971)

EXHIBITIONS OF GERTRUD & OTTO NATZLER

1937
"Ausstellung von Keranischen Gefässen: Trude Amon-Otto Natzler (Plastik)," Galerie Würthle, Vienna.

1940
Fine Art Gallery, San Diego, California. Also in 1942.

1943
"Ceramics: Gertrud and Otto Natzler," San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California.
Dalzell Hartfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California. Also in 1954, 1956, 1957, and 1958.

1944
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.

1945
"Ceramics by the Natzlers," Lilienfeld Galleries, New York City.

1949
Contemporary House, Dallas, Texas. Also in 1956, 1058, and 1961.
Hughes Gallery, Houston, Texas.

1950
Wor-De-Klee, New York City.

1953
Little Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan.
La Jolla Art Center, La Jolla, California.

1954
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio. Also in 1960.
Georg Jensen, New York City.

1955
"Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, and Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri.

1956
Rosequist Gallery, Tuscon, Arizona. Also in 1966, 1969, and 1973.

1958
"Natzler," Jewish Museum, New York City.

1959
"Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem. Travel to Museum of Modern Art, Haifa; Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zürich; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

1961
"The Red Glaze: An Exhibition of New Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Dalzell Hartfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California.

1963
"Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Traveled to San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California; St. Paul Art Center, St. Paul, Minnesota; Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now American Craft Museum), New York City.

1966
"Natzler," Gump's Gallery, San Francisco, California.
"The Ceramic Work of Gertrud and Otto Natzler: A Retrospective Exhibition," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.

1967
"The Ceramic Art of Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Neiman-Marcus, Dallas, Texas. Also in 1969.

1968
"The Ceramic Work of Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California. Traveled to Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.
"The Ceramic Work of Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Galeria del Sol, Montecito, California.

1971
"Pottery by Otto and Gertrud Natzler," George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts. Traveled to Boliou Gallery, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota.
"The Ceramic Work of Gertrud and Otto Natzler: A Retrospective Exhibition," M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California.

1972
"A Memorial Showing of the Work of Gertrud and Otto Natzler," Little Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan.

1973
"Form and Fire - Natzler Ceramics, 1939-1972," Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

1975
"Natzler Ceramics," Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon. Also in 1993.

1977
"Natzler, Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler; Ceramic Constructions by Otto Natzler," Craft and Folk Art Museum , Los Angeles, California. Traveled to Scottsdale Center for the Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

1986
"A Survey of Works by Gertrud and Otto Natzler." Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

1987
"Earth and Spirit: Otto Natzler at 80. Exhibition of Judaica, 1937- 1987," Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, California.
"The Art Pottery of Gertrud and Otto Natzler: A Retrospective," Arts and Crafts Shop, Sausalito, California.

1989
"Gertrud and Otto Natzler: Ceramics from the Collection of Peggy de Salle," Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
"Natzler : Ceramic Vessels by Gertrud and Otto Natzler; Ceramic Constructions by Otto Natzler; Photographs by Gail Reynolds Natzler," Susan Corn Conway Gallery, Washington, DC. Also in 1991 and 1993.

1990
"Natzler: A Half-Century of Ceramic Art," MOA Art Gallery, West Hollywood, California.

1993
"Gertrud and Otto Natzler: Collaboration/Solitude," American Craft Museum, New York City.
"Natzler." Babcock Galleries, New York, NY.
"Natzlerkeramiken 1935-1990." Judishes Museum der Stadt Wien, Austria.


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1937
Austrian Pavilion, Paris Exposition.

1939
"Second California Ceramic Exhibition," Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art , Los Angeles, California.
The National Ceramic Exhibition, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, New York. Also in 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, and 1968.

1940
"Art in Action," Golden Gate Exposition, San Francisco, California.
"Contemporary American Industrial Art, 1940,"Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
"Artists of Los Angeles and Vicinity: First Annual Exhibition," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California. Also in 1941, 1942, and 1943.
"Contemporary European-American Decorative Arts," Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio.

1942
"Local Ceramics," San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California.
"Useful Objects in Wartime," Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

1944
"Contemporary American Crafts," Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland.

1945
Annual Ceramics Exhibition, Scripps College, Claremont, California. Also in 1947, 1951, and 1968.

1946
"Contemporary Ceramics," Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"Gertrud and Otto Natzler/ Majia Grotell," Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

1947
"100 Useful Objects of Fine Design, 1947," Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

1948
"Arts and Crafts," California State Fair and exhibition, Sacramento, California. Also in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1962.

1949
"An Exhibition of Modern Living," Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan.
"Decorative Arts and Ceramics Exhibition," Wichita Art Association, Wichita, Kansas.
National Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles and Ceramics, Museum of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Also in 1951, and 1953.
"Arts and Crafts, Painting and Sculpture," Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California. Also in 1951.

1951
"Ceramic Show," University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
"34 American Artists," University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
"Industrie und Handwerk Schaffen Nueues Hausgerät in USA," Landesgewerbemuseum, Stuttgart.
"The Work of Contemporary American Craftsmen," University of Illinois, Urbana. Also in 1959.

1952
"Design for Use, U.S.A.: Objets usuels sélectionnés par le Musée d'Art Moderne de New York," XXIe Salon des Arts Ménagers, Grand Palais, Paris.
"Sculpture/Ceramic/Weawing," University Union Galleries, University of Visconsin, Madison.
"6000 Years: Art in Clay," Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California.

1955
Premier Festival International de la Céramique," Palais des Festivals, Cannes.
"61ST Annual for Western Artists," Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado. Also, in 1956 and 1958.

1956
"California Design," Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California. Traveled to Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, California; Colorado Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"Craftsmanship in a Changing World," Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the American Craft Museum) New York City.

1957
"Artisans -Techniciens aux États-Unis," Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris.

1958
"Amerikanische Keramik. Eine Ausstellung des U.S. Informationsdienstes," Stuttgart. Travels throughout Europe.

1959
"La Céramique Contemporaine," Musée des Beaux-Arts, Ostend.
"Fiber, Clay, and Metal," St. Paul Gallery and School of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1960
United States Pavilion, World's Fair, Brussels.
"Forms from the Earth: 1000 Years of Pottery in America," Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York City.
"Arts of Southern California, VI-Ceramics," Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California.

1961
"Dedication Exhibition," Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign.

1962
"Contemporary American Ceramics," Museum of National History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
"Clay Today," School of Fine Arts, University of Iowa, Iowa City.

1963
"First National Invitation Ceramic Exhibition," Art Gallery, San Jose State College, San Jose, California.

1964
"Fiber- Clay- Metal: Seventh Biennial," St. Paul Art Center, St. Paul, Minnesota.
"The American Craftsman," Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York City.
"International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramic Art," National Museum, Tokyo.
"The 65th Annual Midwest Art Exhibition," Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas.

1965
"California Artists," Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, Texas.
"California Crafts IV Invitational," E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, California.
"Collector: Object/Environnement," Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York City.

1966
"Ceramic Arts, U.S.A., 1966," National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
"Californian Craftsmen," Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California.

1967
"First Survey of Contemporary American Crafts," University Art Museum, University of Texas, Austin.
"Media Explored 1967," Laguna Beach Art Association, Laguna Beach, California.

1968
"American Studio Pottery," Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

1969
"OBJECTS: USA," Johnson Collection of Contemporary Crafts, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Toured nationally and internationally. (The works in this exhibition, which featured many Natzler pieces, were given to the American Craft Museum, forming the nucleus of its collection.)

1970
"Ceramics 70 plus Woven Forms," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York. Traveled to Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York.
"The Twenty-first Wichita: 1970 National Invitational Decorative Arts and Ceramics Exhibition," Wichita Art Association, Wichita, Kansas.

1971
"California Design Eleven," Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, ca.
"Second Invitational Contemporary Crafts Show," Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York.

1975
"A Decade of Collecting: 1965-1975," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.

1978
"The potter's Art in California, 1885-1955," Oakland Museum, Oakland, California. Traveled to Lang Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California.
"Craft and Religion," Vatican Museum, Vatican City, Rome.

1979
"A Century of Ceramics in the United States, 1878-1978," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York. Traveled to Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.; Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Design, New York City; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio.

1980
"Southern California Ceramics: The Post-World War II Renaissance, 1945-1960," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.

1981
"Centering on Contemporary Clay: American Ceramics from the Joan Mannheimer Collection," University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City.

1982
"Contemporary Clay/20 Artists," Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, California.

1983
"Contemporary Artifacts 1983," National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1984
"Art in Clay, 1950s to 1980s in Southern California: Evolution, Revolution, Continuation," Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, California.
"Contemporary Ceramic Vessels: Two Los Angeles Collection," Baxter Art Gallery, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.

1985
"The Vessel and its Metaphor: Southern California Ceramics, 1950-1985," Pacific Design Center Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

1986
"American Studio Pottery, 1940s-1950s," Fifty/50 Gallery, New York City.
"American Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical," American Craft Museum, New York City. Traveled to Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; J.B . Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia. As "Craft Today, USA," traveled to Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki; Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt; Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Lausanne; Museum of Applied and Folk Art, Moscow; State Painting and Sculpture Museum, Ankara; Olso Museum of Applied Arts; St. Peter's Abbey, Ghent; Amerika Haus (partial showing), Berlin; The Zappeion, Athens; Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava; Grassi Museum, Leipzig; Sala Sant Jaume de la Fundaçio La Caixa, Barcelona; The Gulbenkian, Lisbon.

1987
"The Eloquent Object: The Evolution of American Art in Craft Media since 1945," Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Traveled to Chicago Public Library and Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia.

1988
"American Studio Ceramics, 1920-1950," University Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Traveled to America Craft Museum, New York City; Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York; Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Decorative Arts Museum of the Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas; Ball State University Gallery, Muncie, Indiana.
"Elements Architectural," Susan Corn Conway Gallery, Washington, DC.

1989
"Otto Natzler and Rudolf Staffel," Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, Michigan.
"Contemporary Artifacts." National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1991
"Degenerated Art: The Fate of Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, and Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Illinois.

1992
"California Legacy: Concept in Clay," SHP Hippodrome, Long Beach, California, and Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, California.
"Clay 1925-1975: Potters to Artists," Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, California.
"Master Works 1992." Louis Newman Galleries. Beverly Hills, California.

1993
"Exiles in Angeltown." An exhibition of art, design, literature and music by European émigrés in Los Angeles 1920-1960. Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
"From the Fire, Three Exhibitions in Clay: Lyrical Vessels," Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, California.
"Heirlooms of the Future- Masterworks of West Coast American Designer/Craftsmen." Mingei International Museum of World Folk Art, La Jolla, California.
"Ceramic and Glass from the 1950s and 1960s: Natzler, Stalhane, Lindberg and Venini," Homer Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut, Storrs.

1997
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

2000
Gertrud & Otto Natzler: A 50 Year Survey, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, California


MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

American Craft Museum, New York City *
Arizona State University/University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas
The Brooklyn Museum, New York
California State Fair, Sacramento, California
Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio
Cooper-Hewitt Museum, National Museum of Design,
Smithsonian Institution, New York City
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas
Des Moines Art Center, Iowa
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
M.H. de Young memorial Museum, San Francisco, California
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, California
Fort Worth Museum of Art, Texas
Honolulu Academy of Art, Hawaii
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Texas
The Jewish Museum, New York City *
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
Kantonales Gewerbemuseum, Bern, Switzerland
Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Kuntsgewerbemuseum, Berlin, Germany
La Crosse State College, Indiana
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California *
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland, California
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, ltaly
Museum Bellerive, Zurich, Switzerland
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
The Museum of Modern Art, New York City *
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Newark Museum, New Jersey
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
The Oakland Museum, California
Oesterreichisches Museum fuer Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. *
San Francisco Museum of Art, California
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
Seattle Art Museum, Washington
Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, California
Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, Connecticut
David and Alfred Smart Gallery / University of Chicago, Illinois
The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts
J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
The Maurice Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago, Illinois
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri
Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Chicago, Illinois
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of Oregon, Eugene
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Utah Museum, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin


Submitted by Gail Reynolds Natzler, daughter of the artists

Gertrud Natzler was born in Vienna, Austria on July 7, 1908. She was the wife of artist Otto Natzler. With war threatening, they immigrated to Los Angeles in 1938. Mrs. Natzler died there on June 3, 1971.

Exhibitions:

Paris Salon, 1937 (silver medal); San Francisco Museum of (Modern) Art; Syracuse Museum, 1939; Assistance League (LA), 1939; Brauns Book Room (Hollywood), 1940; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1940; Calif. State Fair, 1948-57; LA Co. Fair, 1948-51.

Works Held:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Santa Barbara Museum; San Diego Museum; Syracuse Museum.

Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Who's Who in American Art 1938-70.

Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here.

Otto Natzler & Gertrud Natzler:

Both were born in 1908 in Vienna. Otto Natzler pursued violin studies, attended a school for textile design, and worked as a textile designer. He met Gertrud Amon in 1933; she had attended commercial school and was working as a secretary while taking art instruction. Gertrud almost immediately interested Otto in clay.

Primarily self-taught, they studied at the ceramic workshop of Franz Iskra for less than a year, then opened their first workshop in 1935. Almost from the start, their collaboration involved a division of labor, with Gertrud's remarkable throwing and Otto's mastery of glazes. They quickly found success, winning a silver medal at the 1937 World Exposition in Paris.

In 1938 they married and emigrated from Austria to the United States, settling in Los Angeles, and soon acquired an international reputation. More exhibitions and awards followed, including retrospectives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design), New York.

By Gertrud's death in 1971, they had created 25,000 works and Otto had developed 2,500 glazes. In the mid-1970s, Otto returned to work in clay, concentrating on slab construction. He went on to have numerous solo exhibitions and was named an American Craft Council Fellow in 1990. The Natzlers received the American Craft Council's Gold Medal in 2001.

Otto Natzler died in 2007