The next time you visit the Nelson-Atkins be sure to check out the exhibit of contemporary American ceramics in the Bloch Building. The gallery consists of four wall cases filled with pieces of 20th-century ceramics by artists such as Warren MacKenzie, Beatrice Wood, Kenneth Ferguson and Edward Eberle.
One case is dedicated to the works of Otto and Gertrud Natzler. The pieces are amazing as is the story of the Natzlers on the label:
"Fleeing their native Vienna as the Nazi forces advanced toward Austria in 1938, the husband and wife ceramicist team of Otto and Gertrud Natzler arrived in America with their potter's wheel, their kiln and little else. The Natzlers' ability to persevere and succeed with little training and few assets fueled what would become a nearly 40-year collaboration that combined Gertrud's elegant and classically formed ceramic vessels with Otto's multifaceted glaze formulations and firing techniques. With less than a year of training, Otto describes the couple's beginning years in their Vienna studio: 'Our lack of knowledge went hand in hand with a lack of inhibitions.' Their continual experimentation with materials and methods led to these wafer-thin vessels that glow from vibrantly hued glazes with both the smoothness of glass and the roughness of volcanic lava."
The gallery is located just off the gallery walkway near the contemporary project space.