Russell Barnett Aitken was a celebrated ceramic sculptor and enamellist from Cleveland, most active during the 1930s. While a student at the Cleveland School (now Institute) of Art, Aitken began sculpting figures at the Cowan Pottery Studio alongside Viktor Schreckengost, his exact contemporary. He graduated from CIA as the class valedictorian in 1931. He also received a degree in journalism that same year from Case Western Reserve. From 1931-33, he did post-graduate study in Vienna with Professors Michael Powolny and Josef Hoffmann. After Cowan Pottery closed in 1931, Aitken set up his own studio in Cleveland. His fame grew among collectors and dealers alike and he moved to New York in 1935. He was known for his distinctive caricatures of people and animals in a style influenced by his contact with Viennese modernists.
