Houston Museum Presents First Look At Major Acquisition

New York-based scholars and gallerists Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio have been leaders in the ceramic field for over 25 years, assembling one of the most important private collections of contemporary ceramics in the world. In the spring of 2007, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired their collection of over 375 objects, as well as the accompanying library and artist archive.

The acquisition places the MFAH in the forefront of museum ceramic collections worldwide and positions the MFAH as a major center for the research of contemporary ceramics. The Scholar’s Eye: Contemporary Ceramics from the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, organized by Cindi Strauss, MFAH curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design, opens at the MFAH on May 18, offering audiences a first look at selected highlights from this extraordinary collection. Approximately 40 international works will be on view, ranging in aesthetics from the functional to abstract, sculptural to narrative.

"Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio’s ambitious work as gallerists, educators, and scholars has transformed the entire ceramics field, challenging and revolutionizing the public’s perception of the medium," said MFAH director Dr. Peter C. Marzio. "Over the course of three decades, Mr. Clark and Mr. Del Vecchio have also used their expertise to build one of the finest ceramics collections in the world. It was a major coup for the museum to acquire this collection, and we are pleased to present a portion of it to the public for the very first time."

"The Scholar’s Eye illustrates the breadth of the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio collection, introducing Houston audiences to the power and beauty of ceramic art and design," said Strauss. "The marvelous diversity found in the field is highlighted by outstanding works on view, dating from the 1940s to today."

The Collection

The collection encompasses a global roster of established and emerging artists working in the 20th and 21st centuries with a specialty in the ceramic arts, as well as painters and sculptors who also worked in clay. Artists represented are from the United States, England, Canada, Ethiopia, South Africa, Japan, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Hungary, and Turkey.

The collection includes a diverse range of aesthetics from abstract and sculptural forms to narrative works. Installations, prints and drawings by many of the artists, and a group of work whose roots are in industrial design are important subsets to the overall collection. The core of the collection comprises American material that traces the aesthetic and technical developments of the past four decades through in-depth representation of artists such as Ralph Bacerra, Marek Cecula, Ken Ferguson, Anne Kraus, Ron Nagle, Richard Notkin, and Beth Cavener Stichter. Important works by Laszlo Fekete, George Jeanclos, Kitamura Junko, Geert Lap, Bodil Manz, Lawson Oyekan, Richard Slee, and Akio Takamori are also represented. -- www.mfah.org