Natzler, Gertrud

Natzler, Gertrud (Amon) ceramicists; both born in Vienna, Austria. She was a potter and he was a self-taught glazer when they began to collaborate in Vienna in 1933. They founded a studio in 1935 to produce the elegant thin-walled pots, bowls, vases, and other vessels "thrown" by Gertrud and glazed by Otto; Natzler vessels have richly textured surfaces—some distinctively pock-marked—often painterly in color but never with figural imagery; he would develop over 2,000 glaze formulas, most by trial-and-error in the kiln. In 1938 they fled just as the Nazis took over Vienna and managed to get to Los Angeles with some of their tools and some vessels. They taught for three years in Los Angeles and quickly became known for their high professional and aesthetic standards. After Gertrud's death and some 25,000 works together, Otto turned to making ceramic constructions of geometric forms with metallic glazes.