OTTO NATZLER                    

1908 January 31, born in Vienna, Austria.

1914-27 Schools: Elementary School, Realschule, to his surprise and over his objections, enrolled by his mother in the Bundeslehranstalt für Textilindustrie;  all in Vienna.  Pursued musical studies during the same time.

1927 Applied for admission to the master class for violin at the Academy for Music in Vienna, but did not pass entrance examination.

1927-33 Worked as textile designer in the Vienna office of Fritz Schönwälder.

1933 Lost his job.  Met Gertrud Amon who got him interested in clay.

1934 Studied at the ceramic workshop of Franz Iskra for less than a year.

1935 Established own workshop with Gertrud Amon in Vienna.  This was the beginning of their collaborative work.  Doing some clay modeling on his own simultaneously, he sculpted portraits of friends and of some of his favorite musicians.  Among others, he made from memory and without the aid of photographs portraits of Bronislav Huberman, Arturo Toscanini, and Bruno Walter.  This led, a year or two later, to his only commission as a sculptor: a portrait head of Shirley Temple, to be done from publicity photographs which were supplied to him.  The head was intended for mass-production of a Shirley Temple doll.  [Otto believed he received the commission because he was not interested in it and, instead of saying “no”, quoted an outrageous fee.]

1935-37 Those years were marked by groping with technical difficulties in their work, and at the same time trying to make the workshop become self-supporting.

1937 June 8 - 22.   Ausstellung von Keramischen Gefässen TRUDE AMON -OTTO NATZLER (Plastik).   Galerie Würthle, Vienna, Austria.  Invitation and a review in  DER WIENER TAG, 26 June 1937.

July - September.  Exhibited work in the Austrian Pavilion at the World Exposition in Paris, France.

1938 March 11.  In the morning, a letter from the Bundesministerium für Handel und Verkehr notified them that their work exhibited in Paris was awarded the Medaille d’Argent [silver medal].  That same evening, the Nazis marched into Austria, and the country was officially annexed by  Germany two days later.  Within days, they began securing documents necessary to emigrate to the United States, a frustrating and time-consuming experience.

On June 7, Gertrud Amon and Otto Natzler were married in Vienna.  They left Vienna on September 15, boarded an Italian freighter in Trieste, Italy on September 20, and after a sea voyage that lasted nearly six weeks, arrived in Los Angeles, California, on October 28.  When they left Vienna in 1938, they were still able to have their personal belongings shipped to Los Angeles, among them their potter’s wheel and the small electric kiln they had used during the past four years.

1939 Established their own workshop in their rented home in Los Angeles.  Struggled to make ends meet by giving ceramic instruction to individual students, and at the same time, tried to find a market for their work.

October 1 - 30.  8^th National Ceramic Exhibition.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York; their entry of five pieces was awarded First Prize. Catalog.  *)  **)

February 3 -- .  2^nd CALIFORNIA CERAMIC EXHIBITION.  Los Angeles  Museum, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California.  Catalog.

November.  EXHIBITION  DECORATIVE ARTS.   The Denver Art Museum, Colorado.  Catalog.

1940 February 4 - 25.  Contemporary European American Decorative Arts. The Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.  Catalog.

April 29 - September 15.  Contemporary American Industrial Art 1940. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.  Catalog.

May 15 - June 25.  ARTISTS OF LOS ANGELES AND VICINITY.  First Annual  Exhibition.  Los Angeles County Museum.  Catalog.  1^st Honorable Mention.

Invited by Dorothy Liebes to demonstrate at the Arts in Action Pavilion at the World Exposition in San Francisco.  Established a close relationship with Amberg/Hirth [Ernest Amberg and Hugh Hirth] who, for the next ten years, represented them in that city.

1940 October 13 - November 3.  The 9^th Annual National Ceramic Exhibition. Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, New York.  Catalog. Katherine Q. Payne Award.   *)  **)

Met Reginald Poland, the director of the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego. First solo exhibition of their collaborative work in the U.S.A.  at the FINE ARTS GALLERY of San Diego, which became the first museum to acquire their work for its permanent collection.   ****)

1941 March 15 - May 15.  ARTISTS OF LOS ANGELES AND VICINITY. Second Annual Exhibition.  Los Angeles County Museum.  Catalog.

Were introduced to Dalzell Hatfield and his wife Ruth by William Manker, a friend and fellow-ceramist.  Hatfield later became their most important dealer in the United States.

October 19 - November 16.  CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. In Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of the National Ceramic Exhibition.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, New York.  Catalog.  Purchase Prize Award.     *)  **) 

1942 March 14 - April 26.  ARTISTS OF LOS ANGELES AND VICINITY.    Third Annual Exhibition.  Los Angeles County Museum.  Catalog.

September.  Exhibition of the ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler at the Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, California.  Undocumented except for review in The San Diego Union, September 6, 1942.      ****)

December 1942 - January 1943.  USEFUL OBJECTS IN WARTIME.  The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.  Illustrated catalog.

1943 Original Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler.  4 page illustrated brochure.  Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California

March 14 - May 2.  THE ARTISTS OF LOS ANGELES AND VICINITY.  The Fourth Annual Exhibition.  Los Angeles County Museum.  Catalog.

During the war, Otto worked in several essential jobs, such as plaster pattern maker at a plant making airplane parts, and for nearly a year, as a dental technician.  During that time, he was able to pursue his ceramic activities only during evenings and on weekends.

Exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art.  Undocumented except for a review in WORLD OF ART AND MUSIC, San Francisco Chronicle, October 3, 1943.

1944 Gertrud and Otto became citizens of the United States.

Solo exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. [Undocumented.]

February 11 - March 19.  CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CRAFTS.  The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland.  Illustrated catalog.

1945 November 24 - 31 December.  Exhibition - Ceramics by Natzlers.  Lilienfeld Galleries, New York, NY.  Illustrated brochure.

November 26 - December 25.  1945 PRIZE WINNERS.  Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California.  Illustrated catalog.

1946 Purchased a small home with a guest house in the then rural Hollywood Hills.  This guest house became their studio from then on.

March-April.  Major exhibition, together with Maija Grotell.  The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois.  No documentation except for reviews in Chicago Tribune,  March 12, 1946 and Ceramic Industry, April, 1946.

June 18 - July 14.  CERAMICS   OTTO & GERTRUD NATZLER – WATERCOLORS   PAULINE POLK—ERLE LORAN.  Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California.  Illustrated catalog.

October 13 - 26.  Four Potters of California.  Art Gallery, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, Eugene.  Catalog.

November 3 - December 15.  11^th National Ceramic Exhibition.  Laughlin Prize Award.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  Catalog.  *) **)

1947 March 18 - April 6.  SECOND BI-ANNUAL CERAMIC EXHIBITION.  Scripps College, Claremont, California.  Catalog.

August 1-31.  SUMMER POTTERY FESTIVAL.  Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California.  Illustrated brochure. 

November 9 - December 7.  12^th National Ceramic Exhibition.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  Catalog.   *)  **)

100 USEFUL OBJECTS OF FINE DESIGN 1947.  6 page brochure.  The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

1948 May.  First of a series of exhibitions at James Crissey, Seattle, Washington.  [The Seattle Times, May 18, 1948.]

ARTS AND CRAFTS.  1948 Exhibition.  Catalog.  California State Fair, Sacramento, California.

November 7 - December 12.  13^th National Ceramic Exhibition.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  Catalog.    *)  **)

1949 February 1 - 27.  Second Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles and Ceramics.  Museum of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  Catalog.

April 16 - May 15.  Decorative Arts & Ceramics Exhibition.  The Wichita Art Association, Kansas.  Brochure.

1949 Arts Exhibition.  California State Fair, Sacramento.  Catalog.

May 3 - June 16.  DESIGN IN THE LIVING ROOM.  San Francisco Museum of Art, California.  Brochure.

July.  First exhibition at Contemporary House, Dallas, Texas. [The Dallas Morning News, July 8, 1949.]

September 11 - November 20.  An Exhibition for Modern Living.  The Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan.  Catalog.

October 30 - December 4.  14^th National Ceramic Exhibition.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  Catalog.   *)   **)

1951 February.  CERAMIC SHOW.  The University of Nebraska.  Illustrated brochure.

April 1 - 29.  The work of contemporary AMERICAN CRAFTSMEN.  University of Illinois at Urbana.  Brochure.

March 20 - April 25.  Industrie und Handwerk schaffen Neues Hausgeraet in USA.  Landesgewerbemuseum, Stuttgart, Germany.  Illustrated catalog [in German].

1951 ART EXHIBITION.  California State Fair.  Sacramento.  Catalog.

March 3 - 25.  3^rd Biennial Exhibition of Textiles & Ceramics.  Museum of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  Catalog.

1951 June 4 - August 30.  34 AMERICAN ARTISTS.  The University Gallery— Department of Art—University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.  Brochure.

September 14 - 30.  ARTS AND CRAFTS, PAINTING AND SCULPTURE.  Los Angeles County Fair.  Pomona, California.  Catalog.

November 4 - December 2.  16^th CERAMIC NATIONAL.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  Catalog.   *)   **)

1952 28 February - 23 March.  DESIGN FOR USE, USA.  Objets usuels selectionnés par le Musée d’Art Moderne de New York.  XXIe Salon des Arts Menagers.  Grand-Palais, Paris.  Illustrated catalog.

ART.  1952 California State Fair, Sacramento.  Catalog.

SCULPTURE / CERAMICS / WEAVING.  University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Catalog.

September 12 - 28.  6000 YEARS ART IN CLAY.  Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California.  Illustrated catalog.

1953 February 14 - March 15.  FOURTH BIENNIAL EXHIBITION OF TEXTILES AND CERAMICS.  Museum of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  Catalog.

CERAMICS.  GERTRUD AND OTTO NATZLER. Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California.  Illustrated brochure.

Solo exhibition at the La Jolla Art Center. [Undocumented.]

The Artists in your Life.  California State Fair Art Exhibit  Sacramento. Catalog.

1954 Solo exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  [Undocumented.]

ART.  California State Fair and Exposition.  Sacramento.  Catalog. October 24 - November 28.  18^th CERAMIC NATIONAL.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  Catalog.   *)   **)

1955 Solo exhibitions at the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, and the Springfield Art Museum, Missouri.  [Undocumented.]

“Design for You”   ART.  California State Fair and Exposition 1955. Sacramento.  Catalog.

1955 CALIFORNIA DESIGNED.  Long Beach Municipal Art Center, in collaboration with the M. H. deYoung Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California.  Circulated nationally by the American Federation of Arts, New York.  Illustrated catalog.

June 21 -25.  PREMIER FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE LA CERAMIQUE.  Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France.  Illustrated catalog.

June 13 - August 3.  61^st Western Annual.  Denver Art Museum, Colorado.  Catalog.

First of several showings at Bonniers, New York.

1956 ARTS.  California State Fair and Exposition 1956.  Sacramento.  Catalog.

1956-60.  Worked as Artists-in-Residence at the Brandeis Institute in Santa Susana, California.  There, with more space and a much larger kiln, Gertrud threw a number of large pots.  Otto, for the first time in years, worked with clay, producing some slab-constructed sculpture, and also several menorahs.

May 17 - June 17.  NATZLER CERAMICS.  Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California. Illustrated brochure.

June 11 - July 30.  62^nd Annual for Western Artists.  Denver Art Museum,

Colorado.  Illustrated catalog.

September 20 - November 4.  Craftsmanship in a Changing World.  Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY.  Catalog.    ***)     

November 4 - December 2.  19^th CERAMIC NATIONAL.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York.  United States Potters’ Association Purchase Prize Award.  Illustrated catalog.   *)   **)

1957 California State Fair and Exposition.  Sacramento.  Purchase Award. Catalog.

ARTISANS - TECHNICIENS AUX ETATS-UNIS.  Craftsmanship in a Changing World.  An exhibition of U.S. industry and crafts.  Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France.  Illustrated catalog [in French].

1958 July 9 - September 7.  64^th Annual for Western Artists.  Denver Art Museum, Colorado.  Catalog.

1958 ARTS.  California State Fair and Exposition.  Sacramento.  Catalog.

October 26 - December 7.  XX CERAMIC INTERNATIONAL.  Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, New York. Guy Cowan Memorial Prize [Purchase Prize Award].  Illustrated catalog.   *)   **)

NATZLER.  Dalzell Hatfield Galleries.  12 page illustrated catalog with an essay by Otto Natzler.

November/December.  NATZLER.  The Jewish Museum, New York, NY. Illustrated catalog.              

1959 Amerikanische Keramik.  Eine Ausstellung des U.S. Informationsdienstes Selected by the American Craftmen’s Educational Council.  International Congress for Contemporary Ceramics.  Ostende.  Illustrated catalog.

5 July - 5 October.  LA CERAMIQUE CONTEMPORAINE.  Musée des Beaux-Arts, Ville d’Ostende.  Illustrated catalog [French].

January - February 1959.  Travel abroad, with solo exhibitions in Israel.

January 3 - 20.  CERAMICS BY NATZLER.  Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem, Israel.  Illustrated brochure [in Hebrew and English].  Poster.

January 24 -31.  CERAMICS BY NATZLER.  The Museum of Modern Art,    Haifa, Israel.  Illustrated poster in Hebrew and English].

4 April - 3 May.  Keramik von Gertrud und Otto Natzler.  unstgewerbemuseum, Zurich, Switzerland. 12 page illustrated catalog and poster.  [In German]

September - October.  Solo exhibition.  Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. [Undocumented.]

CALIFORNIA DESIGNED.  The Municipal Art Center, Long Beach, in collaboration with the Oakland Art Museum, California.  Illustrated catalog.

15 November - 5 December.  The Saint Paul Gallery 5^th Biennial / FIBER- CLAY-METAL.  The Saint Paul Gallery and School of Art.  Catalog.

1960 Nominated Life-Fellows International Institute of Arts and Letters, Zurich, Switzerland.

FORMS FROM THE EARTH / 1000 YEARS OF POTTERY IN AMERICA.  Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY.  Illustrated catalog- portfolio.   ***)

January.  AMERIKAANSE KERAMIEK.  Nationaal Bouwcentrum.  Antwerp, Belgium.  Catalog.

February 7 - 28.  ARTS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - VI / CERAMICS.  Long Beach Museum of Art, and circulated under the auspices of the Western Association of Art Museums.  Illustrated catalog.

17 - 27 February.  MODERNE AMERIKANSK KERAMIK.  Kopenhagen, Denmark.  Catalog. Collaborated with Edward J. Wormley, chief-designer of Dunbar Furniture Corporation, to design and produce tiles for use as inlays in furniture and hardware. World Exposition, Brussels, Belgium.  United States Pavilion.

Solo exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  [Undocumented.]

13 November - 8 January 1961.  XXI CERAMIC NATIONAL.  Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York.  Syracuse China Corporation Prize Award.  Illustrated catalog.   *)

1961 Solo exhibition at Tulane University, New Orleans.  [Undocumented.]

May 20 - June 25.  Dedication Exhibition / KRANNERT ART MUSEUM. University of Illinois, Urbana.  Catalog.

June 14 - July 24.  THE RED GLAZE.  An Exhibition of new Ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler.   Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California.  Illustrated brochure.

1962 April 8 - 15.  Preview of United States Entry in the 3^RD INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS to be held in Prague, Czechoslovakia.  Smithsonian Institution, Washington.  Catalog listing.

1962 Amerikanische Keramik 1960/62.  Internationale Keramik-Ausstellung, Prague, Czechoslovakia.  The American contribution to this exhibition was assembled by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.  Illustrated catalog.  Silver Medal Award.

ART.  California State Fair and Exposition.  Sacramento.  Catalog.

November 4 - December 30.  22^nd CERAMIC NATIONAL.  A Survey of Contemporary Ceramics in the United States and Canada.  Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York.  Illustrated catalog.     *)

December 4 - January 8, 1963.  Clay Today.  The New Gallery, Department of Art, School of Fine Arts, State University of Iowa, Des Moines.  Illustrated catalog-portfolio. THE A. A. D’AMICO COLLECTION. Pottery and Ceramics.

1963 February 3 - 28.    University of Maine Art Gallery, Orono.  Catalog.

February 11 - March 6.  First National Invitational Ceramic Exhibition.  Art Gallery, San Jose State College, California.  Brochure.

April 13 - June 9.  Ceramics by GERTRUD AND OTTO NATZLER.    The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois.  Catalog listing.

April 14 - May 12.  An Exhibition of Art Objects collected by the Faculty of the University of Illinois, Urbana. Krannert Art Museum, Urbana, Illinois.  Catalog.

July 2 - August 18.  Ceramics by GERTRUD AND OTTO NATZLER.   San Francisco Museum of Art, California.  July 1963 calendar, illustrated.

Solo exhibition at the Saint Paul Art Center.

22 November - 2 January 1964.  Ceramics / Gertrud and Otto Natzler.  Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY.  Illustrated brochure.

Medical examination revealed that Gertrud had cancer.

1964 March.  Own Your Own Exhibition.  Denver Art Museum.  Brochure.

22 May - 13 September.  The American Craftsman.  The Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York NY.  Catalog.   ***)

1964 November.  Seventh Biennial  FIBER / CLAY / METAL  U.S.A. 1964. Saint Paul Art Center, Minnesota.  Illustrated catalog.

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY CERAMIC ART. Tokyo, Japan.  Illustrated catalog.

November 14 - January 3, 1965.  23^rd CERAMIC NATIONAL.  Everson Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, New York.  Illustrated catalog.   *)

1965 March 20 - April 25.  CALIFORNIA CRAFTS IV / 1965.  1965 Invitational.  Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, California.  Illustrated catalog.

March 28 - May 9.  CALIFORNIA DESIGN / NINE.  Pasadena Art Museum, California.  Catalog.

June 4 - September 12.  COLLECTOR: Object / Environment.  The Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY.  Illustrated catalog.  ***)

October 10 - November 14.  Selections from the Work of CALIFORNIA ARTISTS.  San Antonio Art League.  Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, Texas.  Illustrated catalog.

1966 April 30 - May 22.  OWN YOUR OWN EXHIBITION.  Denver Art Museum, Colorado.  Catalog.

May 2 - June 30.  CERAMIC ARTS U.S.A.  1966.  Division of Ceramics and Glass, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.  Illustrated catalog.

15 June - 14 August.  THE CERAMIC WORK OF GERTRUD AND OTTONATZLER.  A Retrospective Exhibition.  Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Lytton Gallery.  An extensive catalog was published by the museum with photographs by Julius Shulman.  In connection with that exhibition, the Los Angeles County Museum commissioned a 15 minute documentary.  The film, The Ceramic Art of the Natzlers, was produced by Edmund Penney.                

November 6 - December 31.  24^th CERAMIC NATIONAL.  Everson