Doyle Lane Show Set for Fall 2026
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| Doyle Lane Weed Pots (1950s–1970s) in a 2020 show at David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: David Kordansky Gallery |
The Huntington is an organizing an exhibition of ceramic artist Doyle Lane (1923–2002). Underappreciated in his time, Lane has gained a following with contemporary artists such as Ricky Swallow and Takashi Murakami. The Huntington's "Doyle Lane: Master of Clay" will assemble about 70 works from public and private collections and is to run Sep. 13, 2026–Feb. 22, 2027. As far as I can tell, it's Lane's first single-artist museum show.
Born in New Orleans, Lane studied at USC and become one of the first successful African American (and gay) studio ceramicists. He is best known for his "weed pots," small, multi-color glazed vessels barely large enough to hold a dried flower. Lane promoted the pots by asking Modernist architects to display them in their offices. This resulted in architectural commissions such as an 18-ft tile mosaic mural for Welton Becket's Mutual Savings and Loan, Pasadena—now exhibited at the Huntington in an outdoor courtyard.
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| Doyle Lane, Mutual Savings and Loan Mural, 1964. The Huntington |
Comments
> and become one of the
> first successful African
> American (and gay)
> studio ceramicists.
A large work by Kehinde Wiley, also black and gay, is displayed in the Huntington's main gallery of largely 18th-century British art. However, Wiley is more closely identified with the museum. When growing up in LA, it was his inspiration for the format of classical, figurative art.
> it's Lane's first single-artist
> museum show.
He was skilled and talented, but he too fits the category of artists that must cost less for a museum to organize and exhibit. I'm guessing the Lane show will be in the Scott Galleries for American art, which the Huntington didn't even have until the 1980s.
Meanwhile, a video posted by the Metropolitan earlier this year about the centennial of their American collection and the galleries where it's displayed is a wowsa.
In comparison, the Huntington or LACMA, etc, sometimes gives the impression of the family tooling around in a turnip truck.
As for British art, a relative of mine a few years ago, after her trip to London, mentioned as an aside that museums there were better than the ones in LA. She said it with a bit of embarrassment or wistfulness. But that city is hundreds of years old, whereas LA doesn't really date much before the 20th century.
Regarding artists like Lane or Wiley, etc, they're good, and exhibits for them (ie, in the category of contemporary) are fine,. However, when it comes to the international art and museum scene, there's the custom of LA being on the outside looking in.
Oh well. But even Paris in just the 50 years has evolved way beyond merely the Louvre.
Serious collectors have always shown an interest in ceramics. See the Frick's group of Sevres porcelain. The pieces were purchased by Henry Frick himself.
The Met actively collects in this area. See the recent exhibition, "Making it Modern: European Ceramics from the Martin Eidelberg Collection." (Eidelberg was a Professor of Art History, with an expertise in ceramics and Tiffany glass.)
The Yale Art Gallery has also taken a scholarly interest. See "The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art" (2015). Yale also actively collects in this area.