Cradle II
Artist
Richard T. Notkin
(American, born 1948)
Date1996
MediumYixing stoneware
DimensionsOverall: 5 1/2 × 16 3/4 × 10 1/4 inches (13.97 × 42.55 × 26.04 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Lennie and Jerry Berkowitz Collection in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Object number2011.40.A-J
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionOver life size ceramic hand of dark brown Yixing or unglazed stoneware holding nine anatomically correct hearts in various shades of unglazed Yixing clay. Small round felt pads attached to underside.Gallery LabelRichard Notkin is one of the most-well known graduates of the Kansas City Art Institute ceramics program. He creates provocative works that are small scale but engage large ideas with force and humor. Notkin frequently works in unglazed stoneware or Chinese Yixing ware, a material originally developed in the Song dynasty (960–1279 ce). The clay is dense and allows for creating minute details, which Notkin uses to his advantage in his expressive works. In Cradle II, Notkin employs the hand as a metaphor for the cradle of civilization, mankind’s control of the world and even for hope.
Copyright© Richard T. Notkin
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