Bennett Bean
Encyclopedia
Bennett Bean is an American
ceramic
artist
. Although commonly described as a studio potter
, some would characterize him as a sculptor
and painter
who works primarily in studio pottery
.
Bean resides in Blairstown, New Jersey.
Bean is best known for his pit-fired white earthenware
vessels
, especially his collectible, non-functional bowls
and teapots. His influences have included Japanese pottery
, Native American pottery
, English pottery in the tradition of Bernard Leach
, and modern American pottery, including the work of George Ohr.
Bean was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
on March 25, 1941. Bean's father, a medical doctor, was serving in the army at the time of his birth, and went on to become the head of the Department of Internal Medicine at the State University of Iowa in 1949. From that point on, Bean grew up in Iowa City, Iowa
. He attended Grinnell College
in Grinnell, Iowa
, but transferred to Iowa State University
to pursue his art studies. At the State University, Bean studied both drawing and painting, but he was drawn to the ceramics department, seduced by the technique of throwing and attracted by the university's ceramics faculty. He received his Bachelor of Arts
degree in 1963.
After a semester of graduate studies at the University of Washington
, where Patti Warashina was also a student, Bean moved to California
to continue his art studies at the Claremont Graduate School. At Claremont, he studied under Paul Soldner
and received a Master of Fine Arts
degree in 1966. Bean also met and married fellow Claremont graduate student (of philosophy), Cathy Bao
. After graduation, Bean accepted a position teaching ceramics at Wagner College
on Staten Island
in New York City
, where he remained until 1979.
At Wagner College, Bean tried his hand at minimalist sculpture, using acrylic glass
and cast acrylic. The Whitney Museum of American Art
bought one of his minimalist sculptures in 1967 and included him in its Biennial the following year. Despite this success, Bean refocused his work on ceramic
vessels
.
An independent studio artist since 1979, Bean has served as an artist-in-residence at Artpark in Lewiston, New York
, in 1980, as well as at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Indiana
in 1981. In 1980, he received a National Endowment for the Arts
fellowship. Later, he served on the faculty at the Penland School of Crafts
in North Carolina
.
Although he has worked in other media and other forms, Bean gained considerable success with his pit-fired earthenware bowls. In the mid-1960s, Bean developed a Japanese-influenced style for throwing bowls and other pots
. Like other potters of that era, Bean primarily threw simple pots using little surface design other than the spontaneous markings characteristic of the pit-firing technique. Over time, his forms and surface decoration have become more complex, although he has continued to work within the vessel tradition. For example, he has developed numerous post-firing techniques for decorating the pots
. Since 1983, he has typically applied 24 carat gold leaf to the bowls' interiors. Similarly, since 1982 he has used acrylic paint
s as well as various glazes
to apply extensive abstract designs to their exteriors. Since the mid-1990s he has typically arranged his bowls in pairs or trios, often painting across them to create the appearance of continuity among separate, independent objects. He has also worked in other ceramic forms and has ventured outside of ceramics to design various other art objects, including pedestals, rugs, and garden tools.
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
, the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington, D.C.
, the Newark Museum
in Newark, New Jersey
, the New Jersey State Museum
in Trenton, New Jersey
, the JB Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky
and the Whitney Museum of American Art
in New York
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. Although commonly described as a studio potter
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, some would characterize him as a sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
who works primarily in studio pottery
Studio pottery
Studio pottery is made by modern artists working alone or in small groups, producing unique items of pottery in small quantities, typically with all stages of manufacture carried out by one individual. Much studio pottery is tableware or cookware but an increasing number of studio potters produce...
.
Bean resides in Blairstown, New Jersey.
Bean is best known for his pit-fired white earthenware
Earthenware
Earthenware is a common ceramic material, which is used extensively for pottery tableware and decorative objects.-Types of earthenware:Although body formulations vary between countries and even between individual makers, a generic composition is 25% ball clay, 28% kaolin, 32% quartz, and 15%...
vessels
Bowl (vessel)
A bowl is a common open-top container used in many cultures to serve food, and is also used for drinking and storing other items. They are typically small and shallow, although some, such as punch bowls and salad bowls, are larger and often intended to serve many people.Bowls have existed for...
, especially his collectible, non-functional bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
and teapots. His influences have included Japanese pottery
Japanese pottery
Japanese pottery and porcelain , one of the country's oldest art forms, dates back to the Neolithic period...
, Native American pottery
Native American pottery
Native American pottery is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas. Pottery is fired ceramics with clay as a component. Ceramics are used for utilitarian cooking vessels, serving and storage vessels, pipes, funerary urns, censers, musical instruments, ceremonial items, masks,...
, English pottery in the tradition of Bernard Leach
Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach, CBE, CH , was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery"-Biography:...
, and modern American pottery, including the work of George Ohr.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
on March 25, 1941. Bean's father, a medical doctor, was serving in the army at the time of his birth, and went on to become the head of the Department of Internal Medicine at the State University of Iowa in 1949. From that point on, Bean grew up in Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
. He attended Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
in Grinnell, Iowa
Grinnell, Iowa
Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,218 at the 2010 census. Grinnell was named after Josiah Bushnell Grinnell and is the home of Grinnell College.- History :...
, but transferred to Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
to pursue his art studies. At the State University, Bean studied both drawing and painting, but he was drawn to the ceramics department, seduced by the technique of throwing and attracted by the university's ceramics faculty. He received his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1963.
After a semester of graduate studies at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, where Patti Warashina was also a student, Bean moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to continue his art studies at the Claremont Graduate School. At Claremont, he studied under Paul Soldner
Paul Soldner
Paul Soldner was an American ceramic artist.- Biography :...
and received a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
degree in 1966. Bean also met and married fellow Claremont graduate student (of philosophy), Cathy Bao
Cathy Bao Bean
Cathy Bao Bean, a writer and educator, is the author of The Chopsticks-Fork Principle: A Memoir and Manual . She lives in Blairstown, New Jersey, with her husband, artist Bennett Bean....
. After graduation, Bean accepted a position teaching ceramics at Wagner College
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...
on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he remained until 1979.
At Wagner College, Bean tried his hand at minimalist sculpture, using acrylic glass
Acrylic glass
Poly is a transparent thermoplastic, often used as a light or shatter-resistant alternative to glass. It is sometimes called acrylic glass. Chemically, it is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate...
and cast acrylic. The Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
bought one of his minimalist sculptures in 1967 and included him in its Biennial the following year. Despite this success, Bean refocused his work on ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
vessels
Bowl (vessel)
A bowl is a common open-top container used in many cultures to serve food, and is also used for drinking and storing other items. They are typically small and shallow, although some, such as punch bowls and salad bowls, are larger and often intended to serve many people.Bowls have existed for...
.
An independent studio artist since 1979, Bean has served as an artist-in-residence at Artpark in Lewiston, New York
Lewiston, New York
Lewiston is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 2,781 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Morgan Lewis, an early 19th-century governor of New York. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.The Village of Lewiston,...
, in 1980, as well as at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
in 1981. In 1980, he received a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
fellowship. Later, he served on the faculty at the Penland School of Crafts
Penland School of Crafts
The Penland School of Crafts is a center for craft education located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, about 50 miles from Asheville....
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Although he has worked in other media and other forms, Bean gained considerable success with his pit-fired earthenware bowls. In the mid-1960s, Bean developed a Japanese-influenced style for throwing bowls and other pots
POTS
POTS may refer to:* Plain old telephone service, basic wireline telecommunication connection** POTS codec, a digital audio device** DSL filter, also known as a POTS filter* Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a medical condition...
. Like other potters of that era, Bean primarily threw simple pots using little surface design other than the spontaneous markings characteristic of the pit-firing technique. Over time, his forms and surface decoration have become more complex, although he has continued to work within the vessel tradition. For example, he has developed numerous post-firing techniques for decorating the pots
POTS
POTS may refer to:* Plain old telephone service, basic wireline telecommunication connection** POTS codec, a digital audio device** DSL filter, also known as a POTS filter* Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a medical condition...
. Since 1983, he has typically applied 24 carat gold leaf to the bowls' interiors. Similarly, since 1982 he has used acrylic paint
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
s as well as various glazes
Ceramic glaze
Glaze is a layer or coating of a vitreous substance which has been fired to fuse to a ceramic object to color, decorate, strengthen or waterproof it.-Use:...
to apply extensive abstract designs to their exteriors. Since the mid-1990s he has typically arranged his bowls in pairs or trios, often painting across them to create the appearance of continuity among separate, independent objects. He has also worked in other ceramic forms and has ventured outside of ceramics to design various other art objects, including pedestals, rugs, and garden tools.
Bean's work appears in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the Newark Museum
Newark Museum
The Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, the New Jersey State Museum
New Jersey State Museum
The New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey, United States, overlooking the Delaware River. The Museum is operated as part of the New Jersey Department of State. General admission is free....
in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, the JB Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Sources
- James Yood, "Bennett Bean," American Craft, vol. 59 no. 6, (December 1999- January 2000).
- Karen S. Chambers, "Not Just Another Pretty Pot," Ceramics: Art and Perception, Issue 29, September 1997.
- Michael Monroe, "The White House Collection of American Crafts" (Abrams: 1995).