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Artists›Russel Wright

Russel Wright

Russel Wright

American, 1904

WA-00030141

Ceramics

Representation

None documented

13

Institutional Exhibitions

61

Works in Collection

89

Assets Indexed

3

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ7381291 ULAN500001139

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

20th Century Design from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1958–1959

No image

Good Design: 5th Anniversary

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1955

No image

Good Design

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1953

No image

Good Design

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1952

No image

Good Design

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1951–1952

No image

Good Design

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1950–1951

No image

100 Useful Objects of Fine Design (available under $100)

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1947–1948

No image

Useful Objects

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1946–1947

No image

Design for Use

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1944

No image

Useful Objects in Wartime under $10

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1942–1943

No image

Useful Objects of American Design under $10

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1940

No image

Useful Objects of American Design under $10.00

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1939–1940

Field Verification (3 fields)

3 cross-verified · 0 single-source

BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
Birth yearMoMA· 93%✓
NationalityMoMA· 93%✓

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/6460
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Russel Wright was an American designer and ceramicist whose innovative tableware and furniture defined postwar domestic modernism. Working primarily in glazed ceramic and molded plastic, he developed accessible, functional forms that rejected ornament in favor of organic, biomorphic shapes. His mass-produced dinnerware lines and organic furniture designs brought modernist principles into American households during the 1940s and 1950s, establishing a distinctly American approach to industrial design that prioritized everyday utility over luxury craftsmanship.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 28d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Ceramics

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Victoria and Albert Museum

Canonical record

Artworks (61)

Highlight Flatware

1951 · Stainless steel

.1 (dinner fork): l. 7" (17.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Simtex Modern Tablecloth

Simtex Modern Tablecloth

1950 · Printed cotton and rayon

69 × 50 1/2" (175.3 × 128.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

American Modern

1946 · Stainless steel

3/4 × 6 3/4 × 1 in., 0.1 lb. (1.9 × 17.1 × 2.5 cm, 36.288g)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Iroquois Casual China Carafe

Iroquois Casual China Carafe

1946 · Vitreous china

10 × 5 × 4 1/2" (25.4 × 12.7 × 11.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

.5 (dinner plate): 1 x 9 1/4" (2.5 x 23.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

.3 (open bowl): 2 1/4 x 8" (5.7 x 20.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

.9 (cream): 2 3/8 x 4 1/4" (6 x 10.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

.6a (cup): 2 5/8 x 3 1/2" (6.7 x 8.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

.8 (sugar): 2 3/4 x 4 1/4" (7 x 10.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Teapot

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

(teapot): 4 7/8 x 6" (12.4 x 15.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Soup Bowl

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

(covered soup bowl): 2 x 5 1/8" (5.1 x 13 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

(divided vegetable dish): 2 1/4 x 10 3/8" (5.7 x 26.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Dinnerware

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

.1a (divided vegetable dish): 2 1/4 x 10 3/8" (5.7 x 26.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Casual China Casserole Dish

1946 · Glazed vitreous china

(casserole dish): 3 x 8 1/4" (7.6 x 21 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vase

1945 · Stoneware and glaze

20.3 × 12.1 × 7 cm (8 × 4 3/4 × 2 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Covered Vegetable Dish

1940 · glazed ceramic

Cleveland Museum of Art

1940 · glazed ceramic

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cover for a Vegetable Dish

1940 · glazed ceramic

Cleveland Museum of Art

American Modern

American Modern

Victoria and Albert Museum

American Modern

American Modern

Victoria and Albert Museum

American Modern

American Modern

Victoria and Albert Museum

Oval Bowl (American Modern Dinnerware)

Oval Bowl (American Modern Dinnerware)

1937 · Earthenware and glaze

17.8 × 25.4 cm (7 × 10 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Platter (American Modern Dinnerware)

Platter (American Modern Dinnerware)

1937 · Earthenware and glaze

34.3 × 22.9 cm (13 1/2 × 9 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Salt and Pepper Shakers (American Modern Dinnerware)

Salt and Pepper Shakers (American Modern Dinnerware)

1937 · Earthenware and glaze

Each: 5.4 × 5.4 cm (2 1/8 × 2 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

View all 61 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

61 published of 88 catalogued · 45 with image

MoMA
35 publishedof 62 catalogued27 img
Art Institute Chicago
15 published15 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
4 published
The Met
4 published
Victoria & Albert
3 published3 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 8)

8 entries · 2 sources

Stacking snack trays
1930 · MoMA · 1 prov
MoMA·title
Small "Ball" vase
— · MoMA · 1 prov
MoMA·title
Vegetable Dish
1940 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Covered Vegetable Dish
1940 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Tray, or Celery Dish
1933 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Cover for a Vegetable Dish
1940 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Small pot with lid and ladle
— · MoMA · 1 prov
MoMA·title
Pitcher
1927 · MoMA · 1 prov
MoMA·title

Record

Images

Celery Dish (American Modern Dinnerware) (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

5

Collections5

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Victoria and Albert Museum

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Victoria and Albert Museum

Record

Exhibitions and timeline