It was a figure painting class, where you had a model, and [Robert von Neumann ] would wander around and he'd come up behind someone and say, "Well, what are you trying to do?" And if you told him what… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
If you didn't know what you were trying to do, [Robert von Neumann] wouldn't say a word. He would just turn and walk away. So you very quickly learned to think that you'd better be attempting to do something in… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
[Kathleen Blackshear] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
Some years ago I was working on some forms which were vase forms with a fairly narrow base, and it was after [Hans] Coper… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
I found out later on that was not true, that life drawing tells you a great deal about rhythm, about the structure of a… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
Remember, this is back in the '40s, and the idea of a museum being a place where interested people could come in direct contact… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
At the end of that two weeks Bernard [Leach] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln, the big… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
I got drafted into the army and by pure chance was pushed into a silk-screen shop at this camp where I was, because they… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
[In the Field Museum of Natural History] we could see very simple, primitive, hand-built pottery from Babylonia and ancient Egypt and so forth, Greece.… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
Chicago is a wonderful area because it's blessed with a tremendous number of museums of various sorts, not only the Art Institute of Chicago… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
It was a wonderful opportunity. And so for two and a half years we lived with [Bernard] Leach. — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
We thought [with Alix MacKenzie], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
I went to the Chicago Art Institute, which was the best painting school in the area at that time. And I took painting classes… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
It was there that we really first came in contact with the work of Shoji Hamada, who was Bernard's best friend from Japan, who… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
Bernard [Leach] was making pots which were duplicates of his drawing, and that was a difference of approach, which I think is quite critical… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
I don't know, it's very difficult if you're in a strange country to just barge in and say, "Hello, I'm Warren MacKenzie, and aren't… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
[Shoji] Hamada seldom drew an exact drawing of a pot that he was going to make. — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share
![“It was a figure painting class, where you had a model, and [Robert von Neumann ] would wander around and he'd come up behind someone and say, "Well, what are you trying to do?" And if you told him what you were trying to do, he would then proceed to discuss this with you and suggest things that…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fae/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_it-was-a-figure-painting-class-where-you_1968927.jpg)
![“If you didn't know what you were trying to do, [Robert von Neumann] wouldn't say a word. He would just turn and walk away. So you very quickly learned to think that you'd better be attempting to do something in that painting class.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/008/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_if-you-didn-t-know-what-you-were-trying_2054709.jpg)