The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2023

Self-Portrait

c. 1931

Russell Barnett Aitken

(American, 1910–2002)

America, Ohio, Cleveland

Ceramic

Overall: 48.6 x 17.8 cm (19 1/8 x 7 in.)

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection 1932.967

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This caricature depicts the Cleveland ceramicist Russell Barnett Aitken, who was a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, in a stylized self-portrait as a young hunter in the wild.

Description

Figural studies were emphasized in ceramic classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna where Clevelanders Viktor Schreckengost and Russell Barnett Aitken studied in 1929-30. Aitken absorbed the Viennese style of exaggeration and caricature as seen in this depiction of himself as hunter in the wild, incorporating similar motifs and techniques of caricature into his work for the rest of his career.

Inscriptions

Inscription

on back of base: "Russell Aitken."

Citations
Russell Barnett Aitken Entry Card to 1932 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
Exhibition history

The May Show: 14th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 27-June 5, 1932).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1932.967