Artist: Bennett Bean (American, b. 1941)
Object type: Ceramic vessel
Period: Contemporary
Style: Abstract Expressionist / Studio Pottery
Medium: Pit-fired ceramic
Technique: Thrown and altered, pit-fired with post-firing surface decoration
Signature: Signed (beam symbol)
Dimensions: 8.38 inches height × 7.75 inches diameter
Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age.
Artist Biography: Bennett Bean (b. 1941)
Bennett Bean was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 25, 1941. He attended Grinnell College before transferring to the University of Iowa, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963. He completed his Master of Fine Arts at Claremont Graduate School in 1966, studying under Paul Soldner.
Bean began his teaching career at Wagner College on Staten Island, New York, where he remained until 1979. In 1967, the Whitney Museum of American Art purchased one of his minimalist sculptures and included him in its Biennial the following year. Despite this early success, he refocused his practice on ceramic vessels.
His work has been influenced by Japanese pottery, Native American pottery, English pottery in the tradition of Bernard Leach, and the work of American studio potter George Ohr. Since 1982, Bean has used acrylic paints to execute extensive abstract surface designs on fired vessels, and since 1983, he has applied 24K gold leaf to the interiors of his works. Since the mid-1990s, he has arranged his bowls in pairs or trios, painting across them to create continuity among separate forms.
Museum Holdings:
Bean's work appears in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusetts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, Whitney Museum in NYC, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey, and the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey.
Artist: Bennett Bean (American, b. 1941)
Object type: Ceramic vessel
Period: Contemporary
Style: Abstract Expressionist / Studio Pottery
Medium: Pit-fired ceramic
Technique: Thrown and altered, pit-fired with post-firing surface decoration
Signature: Signed (beam symbol)
Dimensions: 8.38 inches height × 7.75 inches diameter
Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age.
Artist Biography: Bennett Bean (b. 1941)
Bennett Bean was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 25, 1941. He attended Grinnell College before transferring to the University of Iowa, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963. He completed his Master of Fine Arts at Claremont Graduate School in 1966, studying under Paul Soldner.
Bean began his teaching career at Wagner College on Staten Island, New York, where he remained until 1979. In 1967, the Whitney Museum of American Art purchased one of his minimalist sculptures and included him in its Biennial the following year. Despite this early success, he refocused his practice on ceramic vessels.
His work has been influenced by Japanese pottery, Native American pottery, English pottery in the tradition of Bernard Leach, and the work of American studio potter George Ohr. Since 1982, Bean has used acrylic paints to execute extensive abstract surface designs on fired vessels, and since 1983, he has applied 24K gold leaf to the interiors of his works. Since the mid-1990s, he has arranged his bowls in pairs or trios, painting across them to create continuity among separate forms.
Museum Holdings:
Bean's work appears in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusetts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, Whitney Museum in NYC, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey, and the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey.
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