Robert Arneson (1930-1992; USA)
"NO!" Cup
ca 1965
Stoneware; ht. 4.75, wd. 5, dp. 3.25 in.
Incised signature on base.
Arneson was the father of "Ceramic Funk," the Bay Area's movement in the early 1960s and a title he did not enjoy. An incident in 1979, while working with a filmmaker doing a documentary on the exhibition A Century in Ceramics in the United States, underscores Arneson's irreverence. The director asked me to pose Arneson the question, "What is the meaning of art?" I refused so the director posed the question. Arneson responded by pushing his finger as far up his nose as he could and then sitting there silently staring at the camera until the annoyed director yelled, "Cut!"
Provenance: The Collection of Allan Stone, New York Literature: Robert Arneson: Playing Dirty, New York: Allan Stone Gallery, 2012, p. 45 illus.
