Artwork copyright Robert Sperry. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Robert Sperry. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Plate #472, 1982

Robert Sperry
(American, born 1927, died 1998)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Artist Robert Sperry is known for his experimental ceramic glazing techniques. He pioneered the use of a glazing technique that imitates the appearance of parched earth, as seen here in Plate #472 .

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Monroe School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Artist Robert Sperry (1927-1998) worked mainly with ceramics and was an influential teacher and artist. He created functional ceramics, sculptures, and large-scale public artworks. Chemistry fascinated him from a young age and he loved the element of chance in ceramics.

Sperry grew up on farms in Illinois and Saskatchewan, Canada. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944 and became a radio operator during World War II (1939-45). He spent six months of his two-year service in Europe, where he was exposed to art for the first time. Sperry earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington in 1955. For over thirty years, he served as Professor of Ceramics at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was also a painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who helped launch the UW's film program and co-founded Northwest Designer Craftsmen. His artworks are in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C., Seattle Art Museum, and more. Sperry's work was honored in a retrospective exhibition at the Bellevue Arts Museum in 2010.