John with Art

1964

American, 1930-1992

In the early 1960s Arneson abandoned the Asian traditions he had followed as a young potter in Northern California and began to imitate his immediate surroundings. In keeping with the outspoken, nonconformist stance of the local Beat poets, Arneson took a taboo-breaking approach to the seriousness of mainstream art, seeking new vitality through exuberant color, wacky humor, and raucous realism. The artist knew that his toilet sculptures were a break-through for this cause: "The image is so heavy you can't see it as form. But it was a great challenge to confront something one wasn't supposed to do, and do it. It was the toughest, most powerful work I could make."

Stoneware with glaze

34 1/2 x 18 x 25 1/2 in. (87.63 x 45.72 x 64.77 cm)

H. of base: 1 1/2 in.

W. of base: 37 1/2 in.

D. of base: 47 in.

Gift of Manuel Neri

82.82

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "Made in California 1900 - 2000", October 22, 2000 - February 25, 2001

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Collection Highlights: 1945 To The Present", September 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997 (09/12/1996 - 06/01/1997)

Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines Art Center, "Robert Arneson: A Retrospective", February 8 - April 6, 1986. Circuit: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, 4/30-7/6/86; Portland Art Museum, Oregon, 8/1-9/28/86; Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, California1/1-3/8/87 (02/08/1986 - 03/08/1987)

Buffalo, New York, State University of New York, 1966 (1966)

Davis, CA, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, Out our Way, Nov. 13, 2016 - Mar. 24, 2017.

Published ReferencesBishop, Janet C., Fineberg, Jonathan David and Garrels, Gray. Robert Arneson: Self-Reflections. San Francisco, California: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1997; p. 12, reproduced fig. 2.

Weiss, Mike, "Art that Captured a City's Pain." San Francisco, California, The San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 2000

Mayfield, Signe, "The Big Idea: The Maquettes of Robert Arneson." Palo Alto Art Center, 2002

Fineberg, Jonathan. Art Since 1940 Strategies of Being, New York: Prentice Hall Publishers, 1995; pp. 286, 288, reproduced fig. 9.58 and 9.59 (detail).

Drexler Lynn, Martha. American Studio Ceramics: Innovation and Identity, 1940-1979. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015; pp. 196-198, reproduced p. 197.

Fineberg, Jonathan. A Troublesome Subject: The Art of Robert Arneson. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013; p. 56, reproduced fig. 2.16-2.17.

Doss, Erika. America: American Art of the 20th-21st Centuries. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017; p.162, reproduced fig. 103.

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