Claremont Heritage is saddened to learn of the passing of one of the founding members of Claremont's revolutionary arts and crafts movement during the mid-twentieth century. Harrison McIntosh, who celebrated his 100th birthday in 2014, passed away Thursday, January 21, 2016 in Claremont, he was 101.

Harrison McIntosh's long career as a Los Angeles area ceramic artist spanned eight decades. From his modern approach to classical vessel forms in the 1950s, his work expanded to sculptural spheres floating on geometric chrome forms. Known for his strong sensual shapes, often enhanced by distinctive surface decoration of thin sgrafitto lines or rhythmic brush spots, his ceramics are held in numerous museum collections around the world.

Following his own path, McIntosh chose to build on his foundation in modern design rather than pursue the expressionistic approach to clay that became popular in the 1960s. Working in his Claremont studio, he continued to explore the subtleties of form, both vessel and sculptural, in his personal, thoughtfully deliberate manner.

He was one of the first generation of West Coast potters to work with hand-thrown stoneware, a contemporary of Gertrude and Otto Natzler and Laura Andreson. Along with his close friend Sam Maloof, he was among the craftsmen whose work defined California design at mid-century, interpreting a modern esthetic with natural materials.

In the early years McIntosh sold his work at home furnishing stores such as Bullocks Wilshire, Van Kepple Green in Beverly Hills and Abacus in Pasadena. In the 1980s and 90s, his work was represented by Louis Newman and later by Frank Lloyd Gallery. While he preferred working in the relative solitude of his studio, McIntosh also designed prototypes for Metlox pottery and tiles for Interpace. With wife, Marguerite, he traveled to Japan each summer throughout the 1970s to design dinnerware and glassware for Mikasa.

As his career matured, McIntosh gained an international reputation. His work is represented in more than 40 museum collections including the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., the Museum of Decorative Arts, The Louvre, Paris, National Museum of Art in Tokyo, Boston Museum of Art and locally at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Huntington and American Museum of Ceramic Art. His pieces are represented in over 70 publications. McIntosh has had 43 solo exhibitions over a period of 50 years. He is a Fellow of the American Craft Council, has served as a consultant Panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and his personal biography has been recorded in the National Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

(bio courtesy of Claremont Museum of Art)

To view an interview with Harrison McIntosh produced by LACMA for the California Design Exhibition, please click the image below.