Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
1 8

Michael Gustavson

Crowing at the Moon
$19,800
$19,800
Sale Sold out

Michael Gustavson

$19,800
$19,800
Sale Sold out
Raku-fired glazed ceramic
74"×15"×16"

Raku-fired glazed ceramic

74"×15"×16"

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Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
Crowing at the Moon
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About

The Piece

Two ceramic forms stacked on a stone base, rising together to a considerable height. The lower section is warmer and more complex, broad planes of orange, teal, red, and gold meeting at sharp angles, with a crackled circular form sitting low on the face like a moon caught in cloud. The upper section shifts into a cooler register, deep navy and teal with arcing lines and small vivid circles moving upward toward the crown.

Gustavson has spent over four decades developing the scale and chromatic ambition on display here. His studio raku process, in which pine needles are introduced at lower temperatures while the work remains in the kiln, makes it possible to achieve this kind of colour depth across a form this large. Few ceramic artists work at this scale with this level of painterly intention. A cast crow perches at the summit, alert and still.

One of the more commanding works in the collection, and one that earns its height.

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About

The Artist

The Artist
About

The Artist

Michael Gustavson is a California-based ceramic artist who builds upon the traditional Japanese process of raku, reimagining it through a distinctly contemporary and highly personal methodology. His work bridges free-form organic sculpture and painterly abstraction, distinguished by unusually vivid, luminous color rarely achieved in ceramic sculpture.

Central to Gustavson’s practice is a firing approach he has developed and refined over decades, evolving from but ultimately departing from traditional raku. Rather than removing works from the kiln, he introduces pine needles at lower temperatures to create the reduction atmosphere while the pieces remain inside. This highly individual, studio-developed method allows him to work at significant scale and achieve exceptional chromatic depth and painterly nuance in glazed ceramic. Few ceramic artists pursue color with this level of painterly ambition.

Over a four-decade career, Gustavson has pushed the expressive potential of clay, developing a controlled yet highly responsive surface language. Describing himself as a painter-sculptor, he treats each form as a three-dimensional canvas built through layered glazes, textures, and color interactions. His vessels often suggest the human figure in motion, while his wall reliefs activate negative space as an integral compositional force. Large-scale outdoor sculptures and benches extend this painterly vision into powerful tectonic forms.

Inspired by Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Jackson Pollock, Gustavson’s surfaces often feature controlled dripping and expressive movement, translating the energy of abstract painting into fired clay.

Gustavson earned his MFA from San José State University in 1980. His work is held in major public and private collections worldwide, including IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Cranbrook Museum, and Eastman Kodak.

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