Museum Monday - The Huntington, Doyle Lane: Master of Clay

It was time for another solo art date and how fortunate that I could spend a Monday afternoon at the recently opened exhibit Doyle Lane: Master of Clay at The Huntington in San Marino, CA.

I only learned about the artist the day before my visit through The Huntington newsletter. After watching the exhibit video, I knew I would want to see the artist’s work in person.

Exhibit description from The Huntington:

From intimate vessels to large-scale architectural commissions, the exhibition examines how Lane expanded the possibilities of ceramics in mid-20th-century California. 

More than 100 works from the 1950s through the 1980s, as well as archival documents, trace Lane’s evolution from functional pottery to monumental murals that transformed ceramics into abstract, light-filled constructions. The exhibition situates Lane within midcentury California modernism and the Southern California studio ceramics movement while examining the barriers he faced as a Black artist. 

The images above and below were taken in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. I was particularly enamored with Lane’s clay “paintings” and the textures and colors of his work.

I appreciated his abstract and geometric designs.

Some of the objects were playful as well.

It was interesting to learn about his local architectural projects, whether a residential wall or on a commercial building. The exhibit included maquettes that he brought to businesses as samples.

The final and largest work that I saw was located outside the Education Building near the gift shop at the front of The Huntington.

This was a work commissioned by Welton Becket in 1964 for Pasadena's Mutual Savings and Loan. It’s now installed at the Huntington Education Center.

I’m glad the mural was preserved and gifted to The Huntington.