Viola Frey, “Untitled (Vessel, Hand, Head)” (c. 1975-1980), ceramic with slip, 13 x 13 x 11 inches, VF-0339CSS. 2020 © Artists’ Legacy Foundation / Licensed by ARS, New York. Photograph by M. Lee Fatherree.
Over the course of her five-decade career, artist Viola Frey produced an impressive body of work, including paintings, drawings, and sculptures in bronze and glass — but is perhaps best known for ceramic sculptures. Her work is held in over 70 public collections worldwide and is a keystone in the West Coast clay scene.
To learn about Viola Frey’s art and life, you can visit any of the following online resources:
- Viola Frey Archives (Instagram)
- 1995 Oral History Interview (Smithsonian Archives of American Art)
- 2010 KQED Spark video (KQED)
- Viola Frey: A Personal Iconography (Nancy Hoffman Gallery)
- “New to the Collection: Viola Frey, Man and World” (Toledo Museum of Art)”
When museums re-open, visit:
- Monumental: The Art of Viola Frey
Flint Institute of Arts (Flint, MI) - Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
- Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950-2019
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
- 100 Iconic Works from the Permanent Collection
The Baker Museum of Art, Naples, FL - About Face: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture (traveling)
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA - Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
In 2000, Viola Frey co-founded the Artists’ Legacy Foundation with painter Squeak Carnwath and community advocate Gary Knecht. She became its first Legacy Artist after her death in 2004.
See artistslegacyfoundation.org for more details on the Artists’ Legacy Foundation and its stewardship of Viola Frey’s estate.
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