Pond Farm, Russian revolution subject of new exhibits in Sonoma County

Two new exhibits - “Past and Future Connections to Pond Farm Pottery” at Sebastopol Center for the Arts and “Revolutionizing the World?” at the Sonoma State University Library - delve into some fascinating history.

Pond Farm

The Sebastopol show, opening today and presented in collaboration with California State Parks and Stewards of the Coast, explores the lasting influence of the Pond Farm artists collective, founded in 1939 by San Francisco architect Gordon Herr and his wife, Jane.

Located within the Austin Creek State Recreation Area, Pond Farm was designated in 1952 as a “sustainable sanctuary for artists away from a world gone amuck.” Pond Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

The Pond Farm’s artistic influence endures through the work of its most famous artist and teacher, Marguerite Wildenhain, and her disciples, and examples of that work are featured in the exhibit.

Wildenhain was the first woman master potter graduate of the famed Bauhaus school. Born Marguerite Friedlander in 1896 in Lyon, France, the daughter of a German silk merchant and his English wife, she studied both in England and Germany.

In 1919, the Bauhaus School, founded on the principle that fine art stems from solid craftsmanship, opened in Weimar, Germany, and she was among its first students. Marguerite later joined the faculty, following the school when it moved first to Dessau and then to Berlin.

She married a fellow staff member and former student, Frans Wildenhain, in 1930. Marguerite came to America in 1940, but Frans, a German national, was drafted into the German army. After teaching at the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, Marguerite Wildenhain came north to Guerneville in 1942 to settle at Pond Farm.

After Jane Herr’s death in 1952, the Pond Farm collective lost momentum, but Wildenhain continued to work and live there until her death in 1985.

Her influence is still felt through the work of her many students.

The Sebastopol Center for the Arts exhibit runs through May 3. Information: sebarts.org.

During the run of the exhibit, there will be five tours of Pond Farm, and regular docent-led tours once a month after that.

For more information: www.pondfarmpottery.org.

Revolutionizing the World?

At the Sonoma State University Library, the “Revolutionizing the World?” follows up on the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 2017 with artifacts previously designed for the ?50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries.

The exhibit also includes examples of art from the periods of glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s, when dissident Soviet artists began to satirize Lenin and other Communist leaders.

Posters from the United States, Asia, Africa, and Latin America reflect the Russian Revolution’s influence on themes of solidarity, education, anti-imperialism and the role of women and youth in society.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 707-521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts