Robert Arneson
Raft of the Quack Quack, 1991
glazed ceramic and concrete
27 x 20 x 19 in.
Robert Arneson (1930-1992) is known as one of the pre-eminent American sculptors of his generation. Among a wave of ceramic artists in Northern California who bucked the confines of traditional craft techniques in favor of “content,” Arneson transformed the medium, setting a precedent with the complex, figurative ceramic sculptures that define his legacy. Though best known for his work in ceramic and bronze, he also made many works in two-dimensional media, including drawings, prints and paintings.
Arneson was born in Benicia, CA, the Bay Area city where he would later settle. While studying at the California College of Arts and Crafts, he became interested in ceramics, eventually earning an MFA under Antonio Prieto at Mills College in 1958. Arneson took a teaching position at the University of California, Davis in 1962, where he was a highly respected as a professor and community activist; he would remain on the faculty for nearly thirty years. By 1963, he had begun developing the irreverent approach to sculpture which characterized his early work, soon after dubbed: “Funk.” Arneson began using self-portraiture as a vehicle to examine the human condition in the 1970’s and his own image would be a recurring theme for the rest of his life. Other portraits – of friends and artists – followed, culminating in a monumental series around the life and work of Jackson Pollock that constitutes a significant part of his oeuvre. After 1981, Arneson’s output was increasingly politically charged, touching on issues such as nuclear proliferation and race relations. However, near the end of his life his work became more introspective and he eventually returned to self-portraiture in contemplation of his impending death.
Robert Arneson has been the subject of multiple museum retrospectives, and a survey of twenty-seven years of self portraits. His works can be found in most major public and private collections both nationally and internationally.
"If the obsession is still with process and technique and surface, it's still a craft."
ROBERT ARNESON
1930
Born Benicia, CA
1992
Died Benicia, CA
EDUCATION
1958 MFA, Mills College, Oakland, CA
1954 BA, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
TEACHING
1962-1991 Faculty, University of California, Davis
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026
Cornerstones: Robert Arneson and the Brick, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016
Robert Arneson: Guardians of the Secret II, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2012
Self-Portraits in Bronze, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2008
From the 60s, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2004
Political Drawings, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
Arneson and the Object, Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA; Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville,
SC; George Adams Gallery, NY
2000
"This Head is Mine," The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
1999
Robert Arneson: Double Portraits, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
Robert Arneson: Bronze Self-Portraits and Drawings, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA (catalogue)
1998
Robert Arneson: Guardians of the Secret II, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Robert Arneson: Self-Reflections, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA (catalogue)
1996
Robert Arneson: Drawing, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY (catalogue)
1995
Robert Arneson: The Late Bronzes, Frumkin/Adams Gallery, New York, NY
1993
Arneson and Politics: A Commemorative Exhibition, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, CA (catalogue)
Robert Arneson: The Last Works, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue)
1992
Robert Arneson: Guardians of the Secret II, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
1991
Robert Arneson: The Jackson Pollock Series, List Visual Arts Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA
1988
Robert Arneson: Art and Artists, Fuller Gross Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987
Robert Arneson: Portrait Sculpture, Cleveland Museum of Art, OH (catalogue)
1986
Robert Arneson: A Retrospective, Des Moines Art Center, IA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Portland Art Museum, OR; The Oakland Museum, CA (catalogue)
1979
Robert Arneson: Self-Portraits, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA (catalogue)
1974
Robert Arneson, (retrospective exhibition), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA (catalogue)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
TWENTY-FIVE TREASURES SUMMER 2023, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA (exhibition catalogue)
2022
FRAMED 2: Works by Peter Alexander, Robert Arneson, Andrew Belschner, Roy De Forest, Adam Fowler, and Paul Sarkisian, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
FRAMED: Works by Peter Alexander, Robert Arneson, Andrew Belschner, Roy De Forest, Adam Fowler, Dana Hart-Stone, Robert Hudson, Ed Moses, Ruth Pastine, Paul Sarkisian and Andrea Way, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2020
30th Anniversary Exhibition, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA; (exhibition catalog)
2019
Landscape Without Boundaries: Selections from the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis
About Face: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL
2018–19
HINDSIGHT/INSIGHT: Reflecting on the Collection, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM
The Incongruous Body, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
2018
30 Years: Frumkin/Adams – George Adams Gallery, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
40 by 40, Sonoma State University Art Gallery, Rohnert Park, CA
2017–18
Figuratively Speaking, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY
Rise Up! Social Justice in Art from the Collection of J. Michael Bewley, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
2017
Bay Area Clay: A Legacy of Social Consciousness, Arts Benicia, CA
Piss and Vinegar, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2016–17
Out Our Way, Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis
2016
Over the Golden Gate: 1960-1990, Tajan ArtStudio, Paris, FR
Mustard Road, The Battery SF, San Francisco, CA
The Butterfly Effect: Art in 1970s California, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2015
The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, NY
2014
What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
2007
Jackson, Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Dialogues: The Enigmatic Object, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
Inside/Outside, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
CCA at di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, Gatehouse Gallery, Napa, CA
2006
2006 Collector's Show & Sale, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
The Artful Jester, The Painting Center, New York, New York; Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, VT
2005-06
Art of Engagement: Paintings, Drawings, Prints, and Sculpture, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2005
Fired at Davis: Figurative Ceramic Sculpture from the Paula and Ross Turk Collection, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA
Body Language, George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
Paint on Metal: Modern and Contemporary Explorations and Discoveries, Tuscon Museum of Art, AZ
2004–05
The True Artist is an Amazing Luminous Fountain: Selections from The di Rosa Preserve — Art and Nature, The Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC; di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA; Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA; Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
2004
"Bush-Whack!", George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
2001
Poetics of Clay: An International Perspective, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philladelphia, PA
1999
The Art of Craft: Contemporary Works from the Saxe Collection, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
1998
Leonardo Lives: The Codex Leicester and Leonardo Da Vinci’s Legacy of Art and Science, Seattle Art Museum, WA
1995
Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
Inside Out: Psychological Self-Portraiture, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
1994
Black Male: Representations of Masculinity, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Elvis + Marilyn: 2 X Immortal, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; travelled
1992
Arneson, De Forest, Hudson, Wiley, San Jose Museum of Art, CA
1986
California Figurative Sculpture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, CA
1984
The Human Condition: Biennial III, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
1981
Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY
1980
Sculpture in California 1975-1980, San Diego Museum of Art, CA
1979
West Coast Ceramics, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
A Century of Ceramics in the United States, 1878-1978, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; travelled
1977
Sculpture: American Directions 1945-75, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
1970
Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY
1969
The Spirit of Comics, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
1968
Dada, Surrealism, & Their Heritage, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1967
Funk, University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Arts of San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Aichi, Japan
Akron Art Museum, OH
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
Anderson Collection at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, CA
Birmingham Museum of Art, AL
Boise Art Museum, ID
Cleveland Museum of Art, OH
Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, FL
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
The de Groot Foundation, Chicago, IL
Denver Art Museum, CO
Des Moines Art Center, IA
di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA
The Flood Family Collection, San Francisco, CA
The Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York, NY
Hammer Museum at University of California Los Angeles
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Honolulu Museum of Art, HI
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum, University of California at Davis
Jewish Museum, New York, NY
Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Mildura Arts Center, Mildura, Australia
Milwaukee Art Museum, WI
Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL
Museum of Contemporart Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan
National Gallery of Australia, Parkes, New South Wales, Australia
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, KS
Neuberger Museum, State University of New York, Purchase, NY
Oakland Museum of California, CA
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
Palm Springs Art Museum, CA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA
Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
Pollock-Krasner Study Center, East Hampton, New York, NY
RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Modern Art, CA
Seattle Art Museum, WA
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, IL
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Saint Louis Art Museum, MO
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Stedelijk Museum, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Toledo Museum of Art, OH
University of California, Davis
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Virlane Foundation, New Orleans, LA
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Robert Arneson
Fred Frog (Study for David), 1977
conte, pastel, and charcoal on paper
30 x 41 1/2 in.
Robert Arneson
White Mask, 1992
glazed ceramic
12 1/2 x 11 x 5 1/4 in.
