ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center to exhibit works from $4 million donation, coinciding with bi-annual Ceram-a-rama event

The Ceramics of R. Michael Johns
R. Michael Johns, Rock Teapot, 1989-90
Ceramic, glaze, lusters, 13 x 12 x 3"
Courtesy of Stphane Janssen


Photo courtesy of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

December 17, 2005

TEMPE, Ariz. - The ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center will display an internationally prominent selection of ceramics received from a donation valued at $4 million during A Ceramic Legacy: Selections from the Stéphane Janssen and R. Michael Johns Collection, Feb. 11 - Aug. 5, 2006. The exhibition coincides with the center's Ceram-a-rama: California Dreamin' fundraising event, Feb. 23-26. 

Arizona resident and Belgian native Stéphane Janssen, considered one of the world's leading collectors of contemporary art, made the donation of 686 contemporary ceramic works in 2004. Officially named The Stéphane Janssen and R. Michael Johns Collection, it includes figurative sculpture and elegant functional pottery acquired over a decade by Janssen and his late partner, ceramist R. Michael Johns.

The exhibition includes work by major American and international ceramists including Robert Arneson, Ralph Bacerra, Michael Cardew, Viola Frey, Shoji Hamada, Jun Kaneko, Harrison McIntosh, Otto and Gertrude Natzler, Richard Notkin, George Ohr, Adrian Saxe and Akio Takamori, among others. A reception for members and invited guests is Feb. 24 at 9 p.m., following the Ron Nagle lecture coinciding with Ceram-a-rama. The public reception is Feb. 26, 3-5 p.m.

Running concurrently is The Ceramics of R. Michael Johns. Johns received a master's degree in ceramics from the Otis College of Art + Design in California. Under the tutelage of ceramics master Ralph Bacerra, he created a unique body of work comprised primarily of sculptural teapot forms.

The ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center is part of the Herberger College of Fine Arts and is located on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10 th Street in Tempe. Exhibition hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, call (480) 965-2787 or go to http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/ceramicsresearchcenter/. Information about Ceram-a-rama is at:http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/crcgala/ 

  • A Ceramic Legacy
    Robert Arneson
    Rooted, 1983
    Bronze head on ceramic pedestal, 74 x 24 x 24"
    Collection of the ASU Art Museum; Gift of Stphane Janssen, © Estate of Robert Arneson/Licensed by VAGA, New

    Photo Courtesy of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

  • The Ceramics of R. Michael Johns
    R. Michael Johns, Rock Teapot, 1989-90
    Ceramic, glaze, lusters, 13 x 12 x 3"
    Courtesy of Stphane Janssen

    Photo Courtesy of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Media Contact:
Denise Tanguay 
480.965.7144
denise.tanguay@asu.edu