Vivka and Otto Heino - "Bowl" (Top, by Vivika) Brown porcelain bowl, "Vessel" (Bottom, by Otto) Green porcelain vessel

Otto + Vivika Heino
Americans: Otto (1915-2009), Vivika (1910-1995)

Bowl Vivika Heino • Porcelain 2-3/4” x 5-7/8” x 5-7/8”
Vessel Otto Heino • Porcelain 4-1/2” x 7” x 7”

After 47 years of marriage, Vivika Heino died at the age of 85 leaving one mystery unsolved: the recipe for a revolutionary new yellow glaze. Her husband, Otto, finished the experiments, perfected the recipe and dedicated his find to Vivika’ s memory. This is the Heino’ s story in a nutshell. Vivika and Otto fit together like the last two pieces in a complex puzzle. Their mutual bond was a love of well-crafted, innovative ceramics, blending clay and glaze.

Otto, seeking to unwind after over 40 WWII combat air missions, studied art with one of Europe’s most avant garde ceramicists, igniting the first leg of the love triangle that would define his life. Returning to New York, he continued his ceramics studies and fell in love with his teacher, Vivika. She became the second leg of the triangle. From then forward, every piece of art created by either was signed Otto + Vivika. And, clay ceramics makes three.

“What you give away you have forever. What you keep to yourself, you lose.”

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Vivika’s famous quote defined Otto + Vivika. Collaboration was life. Their Ojai California studio, The Pottery, was at the center of a California arts and crafts community. Together they pioneered new formulas for glazes and clays bringing a distinctive richness and luster to their work. All discoveries were shared with other ceramicists, improving everyone’s work and cementing the Heino’s reputation throughout the world.

Throughout their lives together, Vivika and Otto worked together to handle both the practical and creative sides of life. While one taught, the other created new works. Finally they settled into a shared life that mirrored what each liked best. Vivika was the teacher, and Otto became the studio potter.

As with everything else in their lives, their work bridged seemingly insurmountable divides. Their creative style tended toward traditional shapes and clean lines as they worked to combine the sensibilities of modern art with the functionality of traditional ceramics.

Vivika + Otto valued craftsmanship above all. The perfection of shape and glaze was their life-long pursuit. The results of that pursuit are now on display at the Canton Museum of Art.

Both from Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection
Gift of Don Pilcher in memory of Ava Potter Pilcher: Bowl 2010.18, Vessel 2010.19

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“The Heino’s were considered innovators in development of glazes and clays that pushed the art of ceramics forward.”

2.
“For almost 4 decades, everything produced by either Vivika or Otto was signed‘ Otto + Vivika’. They considered everything they did a collaboration.”

3.
“Otto fell in love with ceramics when visiting the studios of Bernard Leach in England while Heino was stationed there during WWII.”

4.
“Vivika was Otto’s ceramics teacher in New York when he returned from the war. According to Otto, ‘she invited me to see her studio.’ ”

Otto + Vivika Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1910

Vivika was born Vivien Place into a small family with one brother in Caledonia, New York. Her father was a businessman who was elected County Supervisor.

1915

Otto was born to Finnish immigrants in East Hampton, Connecticut. He was the middle son in a family of 12 children. The family made a living as farmers, eventually moving to New Hampshire.

Mid-1930s

Vivien Place received a teaching degree at the Rochester Normal School and then spent two years studying puppeteering in the WPA Theatre program. She ended up heading the National Youth Administration in San Francisco.

Late 1930s

Vivika studied at the California School of Fine Arts (San Francisco Art Institute) and with Glen Lukens at the University of Southern California. She explored new ways to mix clays and glazes. She also married Igor Timiriaseff and signed her first pottery “Timiriaseff.” She acquired the name “Vivika” when studying Swedish Applied Arts under Margaret Gravander, who thought all her students should have Swedish names.

1941

Vivika received an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She was only the second MFA graduate from the college. Otto entered the U.S. Air Force in the same year.

1941-45

Otto served in World War II. First he worked on engines at the Rolls-Royce factory in England, and then was assigned to the 357th Fighter Group. He flew over 40 combat missions as a waist gunner on B-17 Flying Fortresses. He also worked as a mechanic on P-51 Mustangs and gained recognition for his craftsmanship.

1949

Otto used his GI funds to study ceramics at the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts. His teacher was Vivika who asked him to visit her studio. Love bloomed and they were married in 1950.

1952

Otto and Vivika moved to California where she took a teaching position in the USC ceramics department. Otto also taught there. Vivika also became a technical advisor for 20th Century Studios. She and Otto made 751 pots for the movie The Egyptian in 1953.

1955

Vivika was hired to reorganize the ceramics department at Chouinard University in Los Angeles. Otto and Vivika stayed at Chouinard for 8 years and began selling their work directly to the public. They continually rotated positions with one making pottery while the other taught.

1959

Otto + Vivika won the Silver Medal from the International Ceramics Exhibitions in Ostend, Belgium.

1963

Vivika became a teacher at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. The Heino’ s moved back east and reopened the Hopkinton, New Hampshire, home and studio they shared when first married. Never intending to stay in California as long as they did, they never sold the property.

1971

Vivika and Otto returned to California, opening The Pottery in Ojai. From this studio they produced goods for retail sale and a growing number of architectural commissions. Ojai remained their home for the rest of their lives.

1995

Vivika died at the age of 85. She was in the middle of a series of experiments to develop a new Yellow glaze. Otto finished her work and dedicated it to her memory. He continued producing pottery signed Otto + Vivika.

2009

Otto died in Ojai at the ripe old age of 94. By this time Otto + Vivika works had been exhibited in major museums ranging from The American Craft Museum in New York, and The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., to the Picasso Museum in Vallauris, France and, of course, The Canton Museum of Art.