Otto and Vivika Heino Vase 1995 glazed and wood-fired stoneware 13 h x 7.75 w x 8 d in (33 x 20 x 20 cm) Incised signature and date to underside 'Vivika Otto 95' with studio mark. Provenance: Collection of Arthur J. Williams This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.
Otto Heino (American, 1915 - 2009), art pottery paper weight rattle Incised signature and date under base. Biography from the Archives of askART: "Otto Heino dies at 94; master potter created 'hearty and gutsy' pieces," Obituary, Los Angeles Times, by David A. Keeps, July 21, 2009. Otto Heino, the Ojai-based master potter, educator and symbol of the mid-century California studio crafts movement who along with his late wife, Vivika, reformulated a lost-to-the-ages Chinese glaze that made him a multimillionaire, has died. He was 94. Heino died Thursday of acute renal failure at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said George Gemmingen, a friend. The Finnish American Heino, who worked in collaboration with his wife until her death in 1995, earned an international reputation for robust yet beautiful wheel-thrown stoneware with artistically applied glazes that included glossy cobalt blues, silky reds and raspy earth tones. In the mid-1990s, he became celebrated in Asia for a buttery yellow glaze that he and his wife had labored on for more than a decade. He claimed to have been offered millions for the formula but never sold it. "Otto's work is a wonderful blending of Scandinavian modernism and Japanese folk pottery," said Jo Lauria, a coauthor of the ceramics book Color and Fire (2000). "He had a macho relationship with clay, and it was a badge of honor to be able to throw huge pieces, but they were always functional, emphasizing the sensuality of the glaze, the way in which it catches the light and invites you to touch it." Heino's handmade vessels, which retain the ridges his fingers formed when shaping the clay, exhibit a style that was wholly his own. Gerard O'Brien, owner of the Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, which sells the Heinos' pieces, called the potter's work "hearty and gutsy" and "ruggedly American." Still actively producing work for museums, international collectors and his home gallery until his death, Heino could throw 100-pound mounds of clay into 24-inch-wide platters. Without assistants or apprentices, he fired kilns of his own design, producing thousands of pieces a year. Those with the prized yellow glaze, popular during the Chin dynasty (AD 265 to 420), sold for $25,000 and up. "I am the oldest, richest potter in the world," Heino told The Times in a 2008 interview. Though he indulged a passion for cars, purchasing a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, Heino was also a philanthropist, donating his work and funds to ceramic institutions and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which staged exhibitions of his work in 1995 and 2005. He was even more generous with his time, teaching, demonstrating and mentoring generations of potters from around the world. Christy Johnson, director and curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, said the Heinos "represented a time when the artist's character was considered to be part of the beauty of their pieces. Their devotion to the work, to each other, and to teaching contributed to the fine quality of the work." Don Pilcher, a potter who studied under the Heinos at Chouinard Art Institute, said they were devoted to their craft and to passing along their knowledge as a legacy. "They treated me, and others, like a son," he wrote in an e-mail. "Watching Otto fire a kiln was a master class in care, precision and patience, I never saw anybody more reluctant to turn off a kiln. It was as if he were having an affair with the fire." Otto Heino was born April 20, 1915, in East Hampton, Conn., the fifth of 12 children of Finnish immigrants August and Lena Heino. He was raised on a New Hampshire farm where every child played a musical instrument; Otto's was trombone. The large family survived the Great Depression raising dairy cattle and delivering milk. By the start of World War II, Heino had established a successful trucking business. For five years, he served in the Army Air Forces as a fighter plane crew chief and a B-17 gunner. During this time, he changed his Finnish first name, Aho, to Otto, which, along with his blond hair and blue eyes, helped him survive when he was twice shot down over Germany. On a furlough in England, the war-weary hero visited the pottery studio of Bernard Leach, who had introduced Japanese techniques to British ceramics. After observing the master at work, Gemmingen recalls, "Otto said, 'If I live through this war I am going to dedicate myself to this.' " After the war, Heino attended the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts on the GI Bill. He married his pottery instructor, Vivika Timeriasieff, in 1950. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles when she succeeded glazing master Glen Lukens in a teaching post at USC. Heino's mechanical skills and education in ceramics helped him land a job with NASA working on rockets and space capsules. In the mid-1950s, the couple lived and worked in a Victorian house on Hoover Street in Los Angeles. "They opened a shop that sold only handmade pots and people told them they were crazy," said O'Brien, "but they were successful and inspired other people to do crafts as a way of life." After a stint on the East Coast in the 1960s, the Heinos returned to California and purchased the Ojai home of a former student, acclaimed ceramist Beatrice Wood, and in 1973 established a gallery, The Pottery. Heino earned the 1978 gold medal at the Sixth Biennial International de Ceramique in Vallauris, France, for a pot with two birds perched on the rim. He and Vivika showed their work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the American Craft Museum in New York, now called the Museum of Arts & Design. Even after having a pacemaker installed in 2008, Heino remained indefatigable, telling The Times, "Never hurry, never worry. If you're negative, you'll never make it." The Pottery, which had been open to the public, has been closed. Heino's ashes are stored in one of the artist's lidded jars decorated with one of his familiar birds and his renowned yellow glaze. The Heinos had no children. Otto Heino is survived by his youngest sister, Olga Rogowski, of Canoga Park.
Otto Heino American, (1915-2009) studio pottery bowl, 2004 ceramic stoneware Signed and dated under base. Biography from the Archives of askART: Otto and Vivika moved to California in 1952, where Vivika replaced Glen Lukens, head of ceramics department of the University of Southern California, during his sabbatical; she remained there for three years. Otto also taught at the university during this time. Also in 1952, she became a technical advisor for Twentieth Century Fox Studios, and she and Otto made 751 pots for the movie The Egyptian in 1953. In 1955, as they prepared to return home to Hopkinton, New Hampshire, she was invited to reorganize the ceramics department at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, and remained there for eight years. During that time, they remodelled a store on Hoover Street into a studio and began selling their work directly to the public, with success. Otto worked full-time as a potter while Vivika taught; during the summer, they switched roles, Otto teaching and Vivika producing pottery. Vivika helped organize and became a board member of the Southern California Designer Craftsmen, and later a trustee for the southwestern region of the American Craft Council. She traveled to nearby states to help organize craft groups, something she had experience with from her days at the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts. After an eleven-year stay in California (originally expected to last two), Vivika accepted in 1963 an offer to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1965, the Heinos reopened their home and studio in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. Teaching was a very important part of Vivika's life. Although he also enjoyed teaching, Otto preferred studio production. Over the years, Vivika accepted a number of short-term teaching assignments, punctuated by periods of studio work with Otto. They later returned to California, crossing the country in three moving vans, carrying 29 tons of materials. They purchased a house in Ojai, a small community in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles, built by Beatrice Wood, a friend since 1952. Their pottery studio, The Pottery, produced functional and decorative vessels, as well as architectural commissions. The Heinos supported themselves as potters throughout their career. Clean lines and distinctive glazes mark their work; avoiding ceramic trends, they focused on traditional and utilitarian pottery. Glazes, however, are Heino's greatest legacy. The yellow glaze being their most famous one.[8] They were part of a generation that sought to redefine the relationship between ceramics and modern art.
Otto Heino American, (1915-2009) studio pottery vessel and closed form rattle, 2001/2007 glazed stoneware Both signed and dated under base. Biography from the Archives of askART: "Otto Heino dies at 94; master potter created 'hearty and gutsy' pieces," Obituary, Los Angeles Times, by David A. Keeps, July 21, 2009. Otto Heino, the Ojai-based master potter, educator and symbol of the mid-century California studio crafts movement who along with his late wife, Vivika, reformulated a lost-to-the-ages Chinese glaze that made him a multimillionaire, has died. He was 94. Heino died Thursday of acute renal failure at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said George Gemmingen, a friend. The Finnish American Heino, who worked in collaboration with his wife until her death in 1995, earned an international reputation for robust yet beautiful wheel-thrown stoneware with artistically applied glazes that included glossy cobalt blues, silky reds and raspy earth tones. In the mid-1990s, he became celebrated in Asia for a buttery yellow glaze that he and his wife had labored on for more than a decade. He claimed to have been offered millions for the formula but never sold it. "Otto's work is a wonderful blending of Scandinavian modernism and Japanese folk pottery," said Jo Lauria, a coauthor of the ceramics book Color and Fire (2000). "He had a macho relationship with clay, and it was a badge of honor to be able to throw huge pieces, but they were always functional, emphasizing the sensuality of the glaze, the way in which it catches the light and invites you to touch it." Heino's handmade vessels, which retain the ridges his fingers formed when shaping the clay, exhibit a style that was wholly his own. Gerard O'Brien, owner of the Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, which sells the Heinos' pieces, called the potter's work "hearty and gutsy" and "ruggedly American." Still actively producing work for museums, international collectors and his home gallery until his death, Heino could throw 100-pound mounds of clay into 24-inch-wide platters. Without assistants or apprentices, he fired kilns of his own design, producing thousands of pieces a year. Those with the prized yellow glaze, popular during the Chin dynasty (AD 265 to 420), sold for $25,000 and up. "I am the oldest, richest potter in the world," Heino told The Times in a 2008 interview. Though he indulged a passion for cars, purchasing a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, Heino was also a philanthropist, donating his work and funds to ceramic institutions and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which staged exhibitions of his work in 1995 and 2005. He was even more generous with his time, teaching, demonstrating and mentoring generations of potters from around the world. Christy Johnson, director and curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, said the Heinos "represented a time when the artist's character was considered to be part of the beauty of their pieces. Their devotion to the work, to each other, and to teaching contributed to the fine quality of the work." Don Pilcher, a potter who studied under the Heinos at Chouinard Art Institute, said they were devoted to their craft and to passing along their knowledge as a legacy. "They treated me, and others, like a son," he wrote in an e-mail. "Watching Otto fire a kiln was a master class in care, precision and patience, I never saw anybody more reluctant to turn off a kiln. It was as if he were having an affair with the fire." Otto Heino was born April 20, 1915, in East Hampton, Conn., the fifth of 12 children of Finnish immigrants August and Lena Heino. He was raised on a New Hampshire farm where every child played a musical instrument; Otto's was trombone. The large family survived the Great Depression raising dairy cattle and delivering milk. By the start of World War II, Heino had established a successful trucking business. For five years, he served in the Army Air Forces as a fighter plane crew chief and a B-17 gunner. During this time, he changed his Finnish first name, Aho, to Otto, which, along with his blond hair and blue eyes, helped him survive when he was twice shot down over Germany. On a furlough in England, the war-weary hero visited the pottery studio of Bernard Leach, who had introduced Japanese techniques to British ceramics. After observing the master at work, Gemmingen recalls, "Otto said, 'If I live through this war I am going to dedicate myself to this.' " After the war, Heino attended the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts on the GI Bill. He married his pottery instructor, Vivika Timeriasieff, in 1950. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles when she succeeded glazing master Glen Lukens in a teaching post at USC. Heino's mechanical skills and education in ceramics helped him land a job with NASA working on rockets and space capsules. In the mid-1950s, the couple lived and worked in a Victorian house on Hoover Street in Los Angeles. "They opened a shop that sold only handmade pots and people told them they were crazy," said O'Brien, "but they were successful and inspired other people to do crafts as a way of life." After a stint on the East Coast in the 1960s, the Heinos returned to California and purchased the Ojai home of a former student, acclaimed ceramist Beatrice Wood, and in 1973 established a gallery, The Pottery. Heino earned the 1978 gold medal at the Sixth Biennial International de Ceramique in Vallauris, France, for a pot with two birds perched on the rim. He and Vivika showed their work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the American Craft Museum in New York, now called the Museum of Arts & Design. Even after having a pacemaker installed in 2008, Heino remained indefatigable, telling The Times, "Never hurry, never worry. If you're negative, you'll never make it." The Pottery, which had been open to the public, has been closed. Heino's ashes are stored in one of the artist's lidded jars decorated with one of his familiar birds and his renowned yellow glaze. The Heinos had no children. Otto Heino is survived by his youngest sister, Olga Rogowski, of Canoga Park.
high Fire glaze earthenware bowls The Blue glaze measures 4.5" x 2" and the other is approx. 4.75" x 2" incised signed and dated 2005P provenance: Acquired Directly from Otto at his studio in Ojai California
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009), Stoneware Ovoid Vase in cobalt blue glaze, signed to underside. 7.75" H x 7" Diameter. Provenance: From 333 East 75th Street Estate. Keywords: Ceramic, Pottery, Sculpture, Vessel, Three-dimensional, Handmade, Vintage
Vivika and Otto Heino (American, 1910-1995; 1915-2009) Weed Vase, Glazed Porcelain in red, incised "Vivika + Otto" to underside. 4" H x 4.75" Diameter. Provenance: From 333 East 75th Street Estate. Keywords: Ceramic, Ceramicist, Studio Pottery, Art Pottery, Vessel, Vase, Flower holder, Sculpture, Decorative Arts
Vivika and Otto Heino (American, 1910-1995; 1915-2009) White Matte Glazed Stoneware Ball Form Vase, signed "Vivika + Otto" to underside. Provenance: From 333 East 75th Street Estate. 4.25" H x 6.5" Diameter. Keywords: Ceramic, Ceramicist, Art Pottery, Studio Pottery, Sculpture, Vessel, Jar, Three dimensional, Decorative Arts
Vivika and Otto Heino (American, 1910-1995; 1915-2009) White Glazed Porcelain Ball Form Vase, signed "Vivika + Otto" to underside. 4.5" H x 5.75" Diameter. Provenance: From 333 East 75th Street Estate. Keywords: Ceramic, Ceramicist, Studio Pottery, Sculpture, Three dimensional, Vessel, Decorative Arts
Vivika and Otto Heino (American, 1910-1995; 1915-2009) Glazed Porcelain Weed Pot, incised "Vivika + Otto" to underside. 3.25" H x 5" Diameter. Provenance: From 333 East 75th Street Estate. Keywords: Ceramic, Ceramicist, Art Pottery, Studio Pottery, Vase, Vessel, Decorative Arts
Heino studio art pottery dishes, 3pcs: plate, footed bowl, and mug Incised signature under base. Otto Heino (April 20, 1915 – July 16, 2009) artists working in ceramics. One of twelve children born of Finnish immigrants, Lena and August Heino, in East Hampton, Connecticut, United States. His family ran a dairy farm in quiet farm country. Otto Heino's involvement with ceramics began while serving in the U.S. Air Force in England; during a military leave, he spent several days watching Bernard Leach throw pots. Following his return to the US, he used his GI Bill funding in 1949 to study ceramics at the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts, in Concord, New Hampshire. There he met Vivika, his teacher, whom he was married to in 1950.
Otto Heino (American, 1915 - 2009), art pottery planter with incised design Incised signature under base. Biography from the Archives of askART: "Otto Heino dies at 94; master potter created 'hearty and gutsy' pieces," Obituary, Los Angeles Times, by David A. Keeps, July 21, 2009. Otto Heino, the Ojai-based master potter, educator and symbol of the mid-century California studio crafts movement who along with his late wife, Vivika, reformulated a lost-to-the-ages Chinese glaze that made him a multimillionaire, has died. He was 94. Heino died Thursday of acute renal failure at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said George Gemmingen, a friend. The Finnish American Heino, who worked in collaboration with his wife until her death in 1995, earned an international reputation for robust yet beautiful wheel-thrown stoneware with artistically applied glazes that included glossy cobalt blues, silky reds and raspy earth tones. In the mid-1990s, he became celebrated in Asia for a buttery yellow glaze that he and his wife had labored on for more than a decade. He claimed to have been offered millions for the formula but never sold it. "Otto's work is a wonderful blending of Scandinavian modernism and Japanese folk pottery," said Jo Lauria, a coauthor of the ceramics book Color and Fire (2000). "He had a macho relationship with clay, and it was a badge of honor to be able to throw huge pieces, but they were always functional, emphasizing the sensuality of the glaze, the way in which it catches the light and invites you to touch it." Heino's handmade vessels, which retain the ridges his fingers formed when shaping the clay, exhibit a style that was wholly his own. Gerard O'Brien, owner of the Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, which sells the Heinos' pieces, called the potter's work "hearty and gutsy" and "ruggedly American." Still actively producing work for museums, international collectors and his home gallery until his death, Heino could throw 100-pound mounds of clay into 24-inch-wide platters. Without assistants or apprentices, he fired kilns of his own design, producing thousands of pieces a year. Those with the prized yellow glaze, popular during the Chin dynasty (AD 265 to 420), sold for $25,000 and up. "I am the oldest, richest potter in the world," Heino told The Times in a 2008 interview. Though he indulged a passion for cars, purchasing a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, Heino was also a philanthropist, donating his work and funds to ceramic institutions and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which staged exhibitions of his work in 1995 and 2005. He was even more generous with his time, teaching, demonstrating and mentoring generations of potters from around the world. Christy Johnson, director and curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, said the Heinos "represented a time when the artist's character was considered to be part of the beauty of their pieces. Their devotion to the work, to each other, and to teaching contributed to the fine quality of the work." Don Pilcher, a potter who studied under the Heinos at Chouinard Art Institute, said they were devoted to their craft and to passing along their knowledge as a legacy. "They treated me, and others, like a son," he wrote in an e-mail. "Watching Otto fire a kiln was a master class in care, precision and patience, I never saw anybody more reluctant to turn off a kiln. It was as if he were having an affair with the fire." Otto Heino was born April 20, 1915, in East Hampton, Conn., the fifth of 12 children of Finnish immigrants August and Lena Heino. He was raised on a New Hampshire farm where every child played a musical instrument; Otto's was trombone. The large family survived the Great Depression raising dairy cattle and delivering milk. By the start of World War II, Heino had established a successful trucking business. For five years, he served in the Army Air Forces as a fighter plane crew chief and a B-17 gunner. During this time, he changed his Finnish first name, Aho, to Otto, which, along with his blond hair and blue eyes, helped him survive when he was twice shot down over Germany. On a furlough in England, the war-weary hero visited the pottery studio of Bernard Leach, who had introduced Japanese techniques to British ceramics. After observing the master at work, Gemmingen recalls, "Otto said, 'If I live through this war I am going to dedicate myself to this.' " After the war, Heino attended the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts on the GI Bill. He married his pottery instructor, Vivika Timeriasieff, in 1950. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles when she succeeded glazing master Glen Lukens in a teaching post at USC. Heino's mechanical skills and education in ceramics helped him land a job with NASA working on rockets and space capsules. In the mid-1950s, the couple lived and worked in a Victorian house on Hoover Street in Los Angeles. "They opened a shop that sold only handmade pots and people told them they were crazy," said O'Brien, "but they were successful and inspired other people to do crafts as a way of life." After a stint on the East Coast in the 1960s, the Heinos returned to California and purchased the Ojai home of a former student, acclaimed ceramist Beatrice Wood, and in 1973 established a gallery, The Pottery. Heino earned the 1978 gold medal at the Sixth Biennial International de Ceramique in Vallauris, France, for a pot with two birds perched on the rim. He and Vivika showed their work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the American Craft Museum in New York, now called the Museum of Arts & Design. Even after having a pacemaker installed in 2008, Heino remained indefatigable, telling The Times, "Never hurry, never worry. If you're negative, you'll never make it." The Pottery, which had been open to the public, has been closed. Heino's ashes are stored in one of the artist's lidded jars decorated with one of his familiar birds and his renowned yellow glaze. The Heinos had no children. Otto Heino is survived by his youngest sister, Olga Rogowski, of Canoga Park.
Otto Heino (American, 1915 - 2009), glazed art pottery cabinet vase Incised signature under base. Biography from the Archives of askART: "Otto Heino dies at 94; master potter created 'hearty and gutsy' pieces," Obituary, Los Angeles Times, by David A. Keeps, July 21, 2009. Otto Heino, the Ojai-based master potter, educator and symbol of the mid-century California studio crafts movement who along with his late wife, Vivika, reformulated a lost-to-the-ages Chinese glaze that made him a multimillionaire, has died. He was 94. Heino died Thursday of acute renal failure at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said George Gemmingen, a friend. The Finnish American Heino, who worked in collaboration with his wife until her death in 1995, earned an international reputation for robust yet beautiful wheel-thrown stoneware with artistically applied glazes that included glossy cobalt blues, silky reds and raspy earth tones. In the mid-1990s, he became celebrated in Asia for a buttery yellow glaze that he and his wife had labored on for more than a decade. He claimed to have been offered millions for the formula but never sold it. "Otto's work is a wonderful blending of Scandinavian modernism and Japanese folk pottery," said Jo Lauria, a coauthor of the ceramics book Color and Fire (2000). "He had a macho relationship with clay, and it was a badge of honor to be able to throw huge pieces, but they were always functional, emphasizing the sensuality of the glaze, the way in which it catches the light and invites you to touch it." Heino's handmade vessels, which retain the ridges his fingers formed when shaping the clay, exhibit a style that was wholly his own. Gerard O'Brien, owner of the Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, which sells the Heinos' pieces, called the potter's work "hearty and gutsy" and "ruggedly American." Still actively producing work for museums, international collectors and his home gallery until his death, Heino could throw 100-pound mounds of clay into 24-inch-wide platters. Without assistants or apprentices, he fired kilns of his own design, producing thousands of pieces a year. Those with the prized yellow glaze, popular during the Chin dynasty (AD 265 to 420), sold for $25,000 and up. "I am the oldest, richest potter in the world," Heino told The Times in a 2008 interview. Though he indulged a passion for cars, purchasing a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, Heino was also a philanthropist, donating his work and funds to ceramic institutions and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which staged exhibitions of his work in 1995 and 2005. He was even more generous with his time, teaching, demonstrating and mentoring generations of potters from around the world. Christy Johnson, director and curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, said the Heinos "represented a time when the artist's character was considered to be part of the beauty of their pieces. Their devotion to the work, to each other, and to teaching contributed to the fine quality of the work." Don Pilcher, a potter who studied under the Heinos at Chouinard Art Institute, said they were devoted to their craft and to passing along their knowledge as a legacy. "They treated me, and others, like a son," he wrote in an e-mail. "Watching Otto fire a kiln was a master class in care, precision and patience, I never saw anybody more reluctant to turn off a kiln. It was as if he were having an affair with the fire." Otto Heino was born April 20, 1915, in East Hampton, Conn., the fifth of 12 children of Finnish immigrants August and Lena Heino. He was raised on a New Hampshire farm where every child played a musical instrument; Otto's was trombone. The large family survived the Great Depression raising dairy cattle and delivering milk. By the start of World War II, Heino had established a successful trucking business. For five years, he served in the Army Air Forces as a fighter plane crew chief and a B-17 gunner. During this time, he changed his Finnish first name, Aho, to Otto, which, along with his blond hair and blue eyes, helped him survive when he was twice shot down over Germany. On a furlough in England, the war-weary hero visited the pottery studio of Bernard Leach, who had introduced Japanese techniques to British ceramics. After observing the master at work, Gemmingen recalls, "Otto said, 'If I live through this war I am going to dedicate myself to this.' " After the war, Heino attended the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts on the GI Bill. He married his pottery instructor, Vivika Timeriasieff, in 1950. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles when she succeeded glazing master Glen Lukens in a teaching post at USC. Heino's mechanical skills and education in ceramics helped him land a job with NASA working on rockets and space capsules. In the mid-1950s, the couple lived and worked in a Victorian house on Hoover Street in Los Angeles. "They opened a shop that sold only handmade pots and people told them they were crazy," said O'Brien, "but they were successful and inspired other people to do crafts as a way of life." After a stint on the East Coast in the 1960s, the Heinos returned to California and purchased the Ojai home of a former student, acclaimed ceramist Beatrice Wood, and in 1973 established a gallery, The Pottery. Heino earned the 1978 gold medal at the Sixth Biennial International de Ceramique in Vallauris, France, for a pot with two birds perched on the rim. He and Vivika showed their work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the American Craft Museum in New York, now called the Museum of Arts & Design. Even after having a pacemaker installed in 2008, Heino remained indefatigable, telling The Times, "Never hurry, never worry. If you're negative, you'll never make it." The Pottery, which had been open to the public, has been closed. Heino's ashes are stored in one of the artist's lidded jars decorated with one of his familiar birds and his renowned yellow glaze. The Heinos had no children. Otto Heino is survived by his youngest sister, Olga Rogowski, of Canoga Park.
Otto Heino (American, 1915 - 2009) double handled art pottery cabinet vase Incised signature under base. Biography from the Archives of askART: "Otto Heino dies at 94; master potter created 'hearty and gutsy' pieces," Obituary, Los Angeles Times, by David A. Keeps, July 21, 2009. Otto Heino, the Ojai-based master potter, educator and symbol of the mid-century California studio crafts movement who along with his late wife, Vivika, reformulated a lost-to-the-ages Chinese glaze that made him a multimillionaire, has died. He was 94. Heino died Thursday of acute renal failure at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said George Gemmingen, a friend. The Finnish American Heino, who worked in collaboration with his wife until her death in 1995, earned an international reputation for robust yet beautiful wheel-thrown stoneware with artistically applied glazes that included glossy cobalt blues, silky reds and raspy earth tones. In the mid-1990s, he became celebrated in Asia for a buttery yellow glaze that he and his wife had labored on for more than a decade. He claimed to have been offered millions for the formula but never sold it. "Otto's work is a wonderful blending of Scandinavian modernism and Japanese folk pottery," said Jo Lauria, a coauthor of the ceramics book Color and Fire (2000). "He had a macho relationship with clay, and it was a badge of honor to be able to throw huge pieces, but they were always functional, emphasizing the sensuality of the glaze, the way in which it catches the light and invites you to touch it." Heino's handmade vessels, which retain the ridges his fingers formed when shaping the clay, exhibit a style that was wholly his own. Gerard O'Brien, owner of the Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, which sells the Heinos' pieces, called the potter's work "hearty and gutsy" and "ruggedly American." Still actively producing work for museums, international collectors and his home gallery until his death, Heino could throw 100-pound mounds of clay into 24-inch-wide platters. Without assistants or apprentices, he fired kilns of his own design, producing thousands of pieces a year. Those with the prized yellow glaze, popular during the Chin dynasty (AD 265 to 420), sold for $25,000 and up. "I am the oldest, richest potter in the world," Heino told The Times in a 2008 interview. Though he indulged a passion for cars, purchasing a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, Heino was also a philanthropist, donating his work and funds to ceramic institutions and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which staged exhibitions of his work in 1995 and 2005. He was even more generous with his time, teaching, demonstrating and mentoring generations of potters from around the world. Christy Johnson, director and curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, said the Heinos "represented a time when the artist's character was considered to be part of the beauty of their pieces. Their devotion to the work, to each other, and to teaching contributed to the fine quality of the work." Don Pilcher, a potter who studied under the Heinos at Chouinard Art Institute, said they were devoted to their craft and to passing along their knowledge as a legacy. "They treated me, and others, like a son," he wrote in an e-mail. "Watching Otto fire a kiln was a master class in care, precision and patience, I never saw anybody more reluctant to turn off a kiln. It was as if he were having an affair with the fire." Otto Heino was born April 20, 1915, in East Hampton, Conn., the fifth of 12 children of Finnish immigrants August and Lena Heino. He was raised on a New Hampshire farm where every child played a musical instrument; Otto's was trombone. The large family survived the Great Depression raising dairy cattle and delivering milk. By the start of World War II, Heino had established a successful trucking business. For five years, he served in the Army Air Forces as a fighter plane crew chief and a B-17 gunner. During this time, he changed his Finnish first name, Aho, to Otto, which, along with his blond hair and blue eyes, helped him survive when he was twice shot down over Germany. On a furlough in England, the war-weary hero visited the pottery studio of Bernard Leach, who had introduced Japanese techniques to British ceramics. After observing the master at work, Gemmingen recalls, "Otto said, 'If I live through this war I am going to dedicate myself to this.' " After the war, Heino attended the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts on the GI Bill. He married his pottery instructor, Vivika Timeriasieff, in 1950. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles when she succeeded glazing master Glen Lukens in a teaching post at USC. Heino's mechanical skills and education in ceramics helped him land a job with NASA working on rockets and space capsules. In the mid-1950s, the couple lived and worked in a Victorian house on Hoover Street in Los Angeles. "They opened a shop that sold only handmade pots and people told them they were crazy," said O'Brien, "but they were successful and inspired other people to do crafts as a way of life." After a stint on the East Coast in the 1960s, the Heinos returned to California and purchased the Ojai home of a former student, acclaimed ceramist Beatrice Wood, and in 1973 established a gallery, The Pottery. Heino earned the 1978 gold medal at the Sixth Biennial International de Ceramique in Vallauris, France, for a pot with two birds perched on the rim. He and Vivika showed their work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the American Craft Museum in New York, now called the Museum of Arts & Design. Even after having a pacemaker installed in 2008, Heino remained indefatigable, telling The Times, "Never hurry, never worry. If you're negative, you'll never make it." The Pottery, which had been open to the public, has been closed. Heino's ashes are stored in one of the artist's lidded jars decorated with one of his familiar birds and his renowned yellow glaze. The Heinos had no children. Otto Heino is survived by his youngest sister, Olga Rogowski, of Canoga Park.
Otto Heino (American, 1915 - 2009), glazed cobalt blue art pottery plaque tile with impressed Queen Anne's lace flowers, 2009 Signed and dated verso. Hanging wire verso. Biography from the Archives of askART: "Otto Heino dies at 94; master potter created 'hearty and gutsy' pieces," Obituary, Los Angeles Times, by David A. Keeps, July 21, 2009. Otto Heino, the Ojai-based master potter, educator and symbol of the mid-century California studio crafts movement who along with his late wife, Vivika, reformulated a lost-to-the-ages Chinese glaze that made him a multimillionaire, has died. He was 94. Heino died Thursday of acute renal failure at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said George Gemmingen, a friend. The Finnish American Heino, who worked in collaboration with his wife until her death in 1995, earned an international reputation for robust yet beautiful wheel-thrown stoneware with artistically applied glazes that included glossy cobalt blues, silky reds and raspy earth tones. In the mid-1990s, he became celebrated in Asia for a buttery yellow glaze that he and his wife had labored on for more than a decade. He claimed to have been offered millions for the formula but never sold it. "Otto's work is a wonderful blending of Scandinavian modernism and Japanese folk pottery," said Jo Lauria, a coauthor of the ceramics book Color and Fire (2000). "He had a macho relationship with clay, and it was a badge of honor to be able to throw huge pieces, but they were always functional, emphasizing the sensuality of the glaze, the way in which it catches the light and invites you to touch it." Heino's handmade vessels, which retain the ridges his fingers formed when shaping the clay, exhibit a style that was wholly his own. Gerard O'Brien, owner of the Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, which sells the Heinos' pieces, called the potter's work "hearty and gutsy" and "ruggedly American." Still actively producing work for museums, international collectors and his home gallery until his death, Heino could throw 100-pound mounds of clay into 24-inch-wide platters. Without assistants or apprentices, he fired kilns of his own design, producing thousands of pieces a year. Those with the prized yellow glaze, popular during the Chin dynasty (AD 265 to 420), sold for $25,000 and up. "I am the oldest, richest potter in the world," Heino told The Times in a 2008 interview. Though he indulged a passion for cars, purchasing a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley, Heino was also a philanthropist, donating his work and funds to ceramic institutions and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which staged exhibitions of his work in 1995 and 2005. He was even more generous with his time, teaching, demonstrating and mentoring generations of potters from around the world. Christy Johnson, director and curator of the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, said the Heinos "represented a time when the artist's character was considered to be part of the beauty of their pieces. Their devotion to the work, to each other, and to teaching contributed to the fine quality of the work." Don Pilcher, a potter who studied under the Heinos at Chouinard Art Institute, said they were devoted to their craft and to passing along their knowledge as a legacy. "They treated me, and others, like a son," he wrote in an e-mail. "Watching Otto fire a kiln was a master class in care, precision and patience, I never saw anybody more reluctant to turn off a kiln. It was as if he were having an affair with the fire." Otto Heino was born April 20, 1915, in East Hampton, Conn., the fifth of 12 children of Finnish immigrants August and Lena Heino. He was raised on a New Hampshire farm where every child played a musical instrument; Otto's was trombone. The large family survived the Great Depression raising dairy cattle and delivering milk. By the start of World War II, Heino had established a successful trucking business. For five years, he served in the Army Air Forces as a fighter plane crew chief and a B-17 gunner. During this time, he changed his Finnish first name, Aho, to Otto, which, along with his blond hair and blue eyes, helped him survive when he was twice shot down over Germany. On a furlough in England, the war-weary hero visited the pottery studio of Bernard Leach, who had introduced Japanese techniques to British ceramics. After observing the master at work, Gemmingen recalls, "Otto said, 'If I live through this war I am going to dedicate myself to this.' " After the war, Heino attended the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts on the GI Bill. He married his pottery instructor, Vivika Timeriasieff, in 1950. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles when she succeeded glazing master Glen Lukens in a teaching post at USC. Heino's mechanical skills and education in ceramics helped him land a job with NASA working on rockets and space capsules. In the mid-1950s, the couple lived and worked in a Victorian house on Hoover Street in Los Angeles. "They opened a shop that sold only handmade pots and people told them they were crazy," said O'Brien, "but they were successful and inspired other people to do crafts as a way of life." After a stint on the East Coast in the 1960s, the Heinos returned to California and purchased the Ojai home of a former student, acclaimed ceramist Beatrice Wood, and in 1973 established a gallery, The Pottery. Heino earned the 1978 gold medal at the Sixth Biennial International de Ceramique in Vallauris, France, for a pot with two birds perched on the rim. He and Vivika showed their work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the American Craft Museum in New York, now called the Museum of Arts & Design. Even after having a pacemaker installed in 2008, Heino remained indefatigable, telling The Times, "Never hurry, never worry. If you're negative, you'll never make it." The Pottery, which had been open to the public, has been closed. Heino's ashes are stored in one of the artist's lidded jars decorated with one of his familiar birds and his renowned yellow glaze. The Heinos had no children. Otto Heino is survived by his youngest sister, Olga Rogowski, of Canoga Park.
Six Vivika (American 1910-1995) and Otto Heino (American 1915-2009), Studio Pottery stoneware vessels, mid to late 20th century, comprising, a ringed pitcher with grey glaze, a pinched pot with mustard glaze, a moon pot with chocolate and mustard glaze, a moon pot with black and sienna glaze, a low bowl with stippled tan glaze and a bowl with black and sienna glaze, five marked Vivika & Otto underneath, one marked Otto '98 which was after Vivika's death. Approximate dimensions: Black and sienna bowl h. 2", dia. 8.35"; pitcher h. 4.75", w. 5.25".
Three Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) porcelain vessels, dated 1998, 2002 and 2003, each within incised signature and date, comprising (1) bottle shaped vase with yellow glaze; (1) rattle with matte lavender glaze and (2) vases with lavender glaze, greatest 9"h
Three Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) porcelain vessels, dated 1997, 2003 and 2005, each within incised signature and date, comprising (1) vase with yellow glaze; (1) sculptural vase with sgraffito decoration with black slip decoration and (1) vase with pierced rim with iron oxide and other glazes, greatest 7"h
Vivika (1910-1995) and Otto Heino (1915-2009), Hopkinton, New Hampshire and Ojai, California, 1960's-70's. The shallow bowl with wide rim covered in speckled robin's egg blue glaze, incised "Vivika + Otto" beneath. H: 1.25 in., Diam: 6.75 in.
Green Tea Bowl signed bottom Otto & Vivika measures 3.5" x 7.5" Includes photo of Otto Provenance: Acquired directly from the Artist by Lola Rae Long, Potter, former assistant to Beatrice Wood Upper Ojai, California
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) studio pottery vase, signed. Matte brown body with deep blue dripped decoration to center. Signed Otto 06 to underside. Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) is well known as part of a team of studio potters that included, until 1995, his wife Vivika Heino (1910-55). Their dedication to functional ceramics is reknowned and their many students and collectors praise the special vision and ability they possessed. As a team they were extremely productive and successful, making a living for themselves as commercial potters while also consistently receiving awards and honors for their work. Since Vivika’s death in 1995, Otto . . .continued working with the same consistency and dedication, producing his finely constructed pots from the home and studio he shared with Vivika in Ojai, California. (franklloyd.com) Measures Approx., 4.25 inches x 5.5 inches x 4.75 inch Domestic Shipping: $30
small covered lidded trinket bowl or 'ceramic box' with offset rim, signed bottom, hard to find form from Otto & Vivika measures 2.5' x 2" Provenance: Acquired directly from the Artist by Lola Rae Long, Potter, former assistant to Beatrice Wood Upper Ojai, California
Green Tea Bowl signed bottom Otto & Vivika measures 3.5" x 7.5" Includes photo of Otto Provenance: Acquired directly from the Artist by Lola Rae Long, Potter, former assistant to Beatrice Wood Upper Ojai, California
Stonewear thrown round vase in a striking blue glaze measures 5" h x 6" diam Provenance: Acquired directly from the Artist by Lola Rae Long, Potter, former assistant to Beatrice Wood Upper Ojai, California
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) studio pottery vase, signed. Matte brown body with deep blue dripped decoration to center. Signed Otto 06 to underside. Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) is well known as part of a team of studio potters that included, until 1995, his wife Vivika Heino (1910-55). Their dedication to functional ceramics is reknowned and their many students and collectors praise the special vision and ability they possessed. As a team they were extremely productive and successful, making a living for themselves as commercial potters while also consistently receiving awards and honors for their work. Since Vivika’s death in 1995, Otto . . .continued working with the same consistency and dedication, producing his finely constructed pots from the home and studio he shared with Vivika in Ojai, California. (franklloyd.com) Measures Approx., 4.25 inches x 5.5 inches x 4.75 inch Domestic Shipping: $30
Otto Heino Bowl USA, 2002 glazed stoneware 8.875 h x 10.75 dia in (23 x 27 cm) Incised signature and date to underside 'Otto 02'. This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Otto and Vivika Heino Bowl USA, c. 1975 glazed stoneware 6.5 h x 1 w x 16 dia in (17 x 3 x 41 cm) Incised signature to underside 'Vivika + Otto'. Provenance: The Pottery, Ojai, CA | Acquired from the previous c. 1975 by the present owner This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Otto and Vivika Heino Bowl USA, c. 1960 glazed stoneware 5 h x 7 dia in (13 x 18 cm) Impressed signature to underside 'C' with vase form. This mark was used by the Heinos during their time at Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles between 1955 and 1963. Provenance: Private Collection, Tucson This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.
OTTO AND VIVEKA HEINO (American, 1915/1910 - 2009/1995), large, glazed stoneware bowl with sgraffito dragonfly decoration. Some crazing and minor accretions, minor flake to rim. Incised signature to underside. 6-1/4''h, 14''dia.
Six Vivika (American 1910-1995) and Otto Heino (American 1915-2009), Studio Pottery stoneware vessels, mid to late 20th century, comprising, a ringed pitcher with grey glaze, a pinched pot with mustard glaze, a moon pot with chocolate and mustard glaze, a moon pot with black and sienna glaze, a low bowl with stippled tan glaze and a bowl with black and sienna glaze, five marked Vivika & Otto underneath, one marked Otto '98 which was after Vivika's death. Approximate measurements: Black and sienna bowl h. 2", dia. 8. 35"; pitcher h. 4. 75", w. 5. 25".
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) studio pottery vase, signed. Matte brown body with deep blue dripped decoration to center. Signed Otto 06 to underside. Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) is well known as part of a team of studio potters that included, until 1995, his wife Vivika Heino (1910-55). Their dedication to functional ceramics is reknowned and their many students and collectors praise the special vision and ability they possessed. As a team they were extremely productive and successful, making a living for themselves as commercial potters while also consistently receiving awards and honors for their work. Since Vivikaâs death in 1995, Otto . . .continued working with the same consistency and dedication, producing his finely constructed pots from the home and studio he shared with Vivika in Ojai, California. (franklloyd.com) Domestic Shipping: $30
Otto and Vivika Heino Vase c. 1990 glazed stoneware 3 h x 4.5 dia in (8 x 11 cm) Incised signature to underside 'Vivika + Otto'. This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Small glazed Otto Heino (Finnish, 1915-2009) earthenware vase with a thin top on round body of grey colored glaze. Euro Awards, League of NH Craftsmen, 17th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th Ceramic Nationals. Provenance: From the Eileen and Marvin Reingold Collection. [3" H x 3" Diam.].
Vivika and Otto Heino (American, 1910-1995 and 1915-2009). Mid-century studio stoneware pottery vase signed by the artists Vivika and Otto Heiner. Signed on underside (view photo). Dimensions: Height: 9 in. Condition: good original pre-owned estate condition, no chips or repairs. Provenance: private estate.
Otto and Vivika Heino Covered vessel USA, 1983 glazed porcelain 2.5 h x 6.5 dia in (6 x 17 cm) Incised signature and date to underside 'Vivika & Otto 83'. This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
Otto and Vivika Heino Bowl USA, c. 1990 glazed stoneware 6.75 h x 8 w x 7 d in (17 x 20 x 18 cm) Incised signature to underside 'Vivika + Otto'. This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) studio pottery vase, signed. Matte brown body with deep blue dripped decoration to center. Signed Otto 06 to underside. Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) is well known as part of a team of studio potters that included, until 1995, his wife Vivika Heino (1910-55). Their dedication to functional ceramics is reknowned and their many students and collectors praise the special vision and ability they possessed. As a team they were extremely productive and successful, making a living for themselves as commercial potters while also consistently receiving awards and honors for their work. Since Vivika’s death in 1995, Otto . . .continued working with the same consistency and dedication, producing his finely constructed pots from the home and studio he shared with Vivika in Ojai, California. (franklloyd.com) Measures Approx., 4.25 inches x 5.5 inches x 4.75 inches Domestic Shipping: $30
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) Two Vases and a Charger, 2000-2009 Glazed stoneware 12-3/4 x 2 inches (32.4 x 5.1 cm) (largest, charger) Each incised to underside OTTO, ( OT cipher), (date) PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from Otto Heino by the artist's relative. HID01801242017
Otto Heino (American, 1915-2009) & Vivika Heino (American, 1910-1995) Bowl, 1982 Glazed stoneware 2 x 5-3/4 inches (5.1 x 14.6 cm) Inscribed on underside: Vivika / 82 / Otto HID01801242017
