Esoteric Survey

Picking up the Frimkess pieces last weekend reminded me that I never did a post on  LACMA's exhibition on Magdalena. I saw it in September of 2024.  Magdalena Suarez Frimkess: The Finest Disregard was the first museum exhibition dedicated to Magdalena. Although she is mostly known for her ceramics, the Venezuelan-born, Los Angeles-based artist was trained in painting, printmaking, and sculpture in Venezuela, Chile, and New York. Spanning more than five decades, the exhibition features ceramics, paintings, and drawings, including works created with her husband, Michael Frimkess. Magdalena was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1929. She was orphaned at seven years old when her mother passed from cancer. After being raised by nuns, she moved to Chile at 19. She moved to the US when she was 33 after she was offered a residency at the Clay Art Center in New York. That is where she met her future husband Michael. They moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and they opened there studio in V...

  The Private Collection of Gertrud & Otto Natzler at Rago and LAMA  This auction has some insane pots. It looks like the Natzlers were holding back some of the best examples.  Orange-red crater glaze I'm not usually a fan of these crystal formation glazes. They are a little flashy for me. However, paired with this dark blue, it works. Otto was was such a glaze master.  The house and studio where Gertud and Otto made all the pots is also for sale.   Gertrud died in 1971.  Otto later married photographer Gail Reynolds. Otto died in 2007 and Gail passed last year.  All contemporary real estate photos: Cameron Carothers This what the house looked like early on. After Gertrud passed, Otto and Gail expanded the house and gave it that Austrian chalet look. There were thousands of pieces of ceramics in the house. The real estate listing says "... it has been taken out by an art dealer, and they are now in storage." However, there are some Natzlers st...