Otto Natzler
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n–born ceramicist. With his wife Gertrud Natzler, he produced what were considered some of the most admired ceramic pieces of the 20th century.
Personal life
The son of Dr. Sigmund Natzler, a dentistDentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
, and a stay-at-home mother Regina Frieda Lowy, Natzler was born in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and first exposed to art by his uncle. He began his working life at the age of 15 by taking a textile design course and subsequently finding employment devising colour schemes at a local necktie factory, a company that was blacklisted in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and shut down in 1933.
Natzler's first wife was Bertha Steinmetz whom he married on November 9, 1930 in Vienna, Austria. Naztler met his second wife and partner, secretary Gertrude Amon, in 1933, although their romance did not blossom until after he divorced his first wife in 1934. Though they were self taught, by 1937 they had already begun to submit pieces, winning a silver medal at the Paris Exposition
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)
The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937 in Paris, France...
in 1937.
Work
1938 marked the beginning of the Naztlers' serious commitment to their craft. After winning the silver medal on March 11 of that year, the couple married in June and fled Vienna for Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in September, with the help of Otto's cousin.
From 1938 to 1971, the year of Gertrude's death, the duo produced an increasingly notable body of work, with Gertrud as the potter and Otto as the glazer. Gertrud's forms were reminiscent of the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
ist movement, while Otto perfected over 2,000 colours and styles of glazes. In 1999, Modernism Magazine declared that the Natzlers' work was "among the finest pottery of all time."
Later life
Gertrud died in 1971 and Otto married photographer Gail Reynolds in 1973. Nevertheless, Otto refused to glaze the last set of pots that she had thrown, until Reynolds finally convinced him near the end of his life. After being described as "vital and active" from a rigorous exercise program well into his 90s, Natzler succumbed to cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Collections
- The Grace MuseumThe Grace MuseumThe Grace Museum is a museum located in Abilene, Texas, USA. The museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums . The Grace Museum houses five art galleries displaying temporary exhibitions and works from its permanent art collection; a children's museum; and a history gallery with...
, Abilene, Texas - The Contemporary Museum, HonoluluThe Contemporary Museum, HonoluluThe now defunct Contemporary Museum, Honolulu was the only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. The Contemporary Museum had two venues: in residential Honolulu at the historic Spalding House, and downtown Honolulu at First Hawaiian Center.-Collection:Artists...
- Cooper-Hewitt Museum
- Everson Museum of ArtEverson Museum of ArtThe Everson Museum of Art in Downtown Syracuse, New York is a major Central New York museum focusing on American art.-History:The museum was founded in 1897 by art historian George Fisk Comfort ; at that time, it was called the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts...
- Kantonales Gewerbemuseum
- Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
- Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
- Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche
- Museum of Arts and Design
- Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
- Nelson-Atkins Museum of ArtNelson-Atkins Museum of ArtThe Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
- Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...