Doner Downsize

Sculptor Michele Oka Doner may be best known these days for her large scale outdoor productions, but it is her smaller, earlier work that will command attention at Cowan’s Auctions Modern Ceramics sale on Thursday, May 28. Lot 67, a set of eleven porcelain sculptures of varying heights, created when the artist was freshly graduated from the University of Michigan, offers a rare opportunity for collectors to access this much-lauded international artist.

Early work by Michele Oka Doner is sure to be in hot demand!

Born and raised in Miami Beach, Oka Doner’s prolific career has spanned over four decades. Her work had been acquired by museums the world over, including the MoMA, the Musée des Arts Dècoratifs at the Louvre, the Cooper-Hewitt, the National Design Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and many others.

Her most famous work however, resides out of doors. Her public installations include A Walk on the Beach at Miami International Airport, Radiant Site at Herald Square subway station in NYC, Flight at the Ronald Reagan International Airport in Virginia, as well as three United States courthouses and two public libraries.

Richard Notkins tea set - not coming to the next series of Downton Abbey...

The offering by Michele Oka Doner is just one of the many outstanding pieces available at this semi-annual sale from Cowan’s, being held for the first time in the company’s Cleveland office.  The 70-lot auction includes work by artists such Pablo Picasso, Dale Chihuly, Betty Woodman, Lucie Rie, Richard Notkin, Ralph Baccerra, Michael Lucero, Karen Karnes and more.

Lot 47 (left) byt Rick Dillingham, and Lot 61 (right) by Michael Lucero

Look now at the full catalog for Cowan’s Auctions Modern Ceramics Including Glass: Live Salesroom sale, set down for Thursday, May 28.