1940s Otto & Vivika Heino Small Red & White Vessel

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Exquisite work by the master ceramists of Ojai. Measures 6 1/2" x 4" x 4".

Otto Heino (April 20, 1915 … Read more Exquisite work by the master ceramists of Ojai. Measures 6 1/2" x 4" x 4".

Otto Heino (April 20, 1915 – July 16, 2009) and Vivika Heino (June 27, 1910 – September 1, 1995) were artists working in ceramics. They collaborated as a husband-and-wife team for thirty-five years, signing their pots Vivika + Otto, regardless of who actually made them. 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 remodeled 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 travelled 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.

What you give away you have forever; what you keep to yourself, you lose." (Vivika Heino)

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. They were part of a generation that sought to redefine the relationship between ceramics and modern art. See less