Overcooked, 1973.

In 1962, Robert Arneson joined the art faculty at the University of California, Davis, and his teaching and high-spirited persona inspired entire generations of young ceramists and, in the process, helped make irreverence and wit acceptable in art. The 1960s proved a pivotal decade for Arneson. Over its course, his subjects became increasingly personal, but also satirical. Among the first to argue that ceramics was not just a craft, he imbued this work with increasingly sophisticated content, which in the early 1970s turned into a series of monumental self-portraits. Humor was of the utmost importance; in these caricatures preposterous expressions, either dramatic or comedic, defined the result.

For Overcooked, the artist puts special emphasis on the goods he bakes by rendering a kiln in back of the bust. Created in terracotta, this is slightly larger than life size, and named for the golden-brown tint the clay acquired when fired.

LOOK FOR: Arneson’s nod to art history, and especially to Bernini, the great master of the portrait bust.