Robert Sperry I think that at various times in the past there has been more emphasis put upon concept or upon technique; however, to me, the most satisfying pots are those which possess a unity of concept and execution

Robert Sperry Sperry was born in 1927 in Bushnell, Illinois He died in 1998 at his home in Seattle, Washington Robert worked as professor of ceramics at the University of Washington, where he taught full time from 1955 to 1982 and then as an emeritus professor for many years.

Sperry was best known for his large stoneware platters, tile murals and sculptures, mainly painterly abstract gestural compositions rendered in a black-and-white palette on richly textured surfaces. Robert covered the pieces with black stoneware glaze, fired them, then applied thick white porcelain slip by pouring, painting, or brush-mopping it on in calligraphic loops and splashes. When the piece was fired a second time, the slip shrank and created a notable crackling patterns, which could resemble a parched, cracking riverbed or just as easily planetary constellations. This crackled surface has a visual kinship with Abstract Expressionist paintings.

Influences His early career was influenced by meeting both Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio at the Archie Bray Foundation in 1954. The long-time head of the U of Washington School of Art's ceramics department, and mentor to a generation of potters, underscored the link with Asia by studying with traditional potters in Japan. Sperry incorporated broad and diverse influences including Asian ceramic traditions and Scandinavian ceramic trends. In 1963, after spending three months with Japanese folk potters, he made a film, "Village Potters of Onda," which was hailed as a classic documentary of a vanishing culture. This film introduced potters around the world to the Japanese ceramics culture.

Sperry enlisted in the army at the age of 18 during the conclusion of World War II in 1945. He was stationed in Berlin Germany for one year. During his time there he took his first art class. Upon returning home he was able to continue his education with money from the GI bill.

The crackled surface texture and stark contrast of black and white that Sperry made has a visual kinship with Abstract Expressionist paintings. Abstract Expression A post–World War II art movement in American painting and sculpture, developed in New York in the 1940s. Its emphasis is on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation of art. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence.

This piece is representative of the glaze and textural contrast that makes Sperry’s work so beautiful. Untitled Plate Stoneware with slip 4”x 27” diameter 1988

#1002 1991 Stoneware with Glazes and Slips 33x35x8

Sperry No. 1001A, c. 1991, stoneware tile with slips, mixed media, 19 × 23 × 23 inches

Untitled Tile, Clay and glaze, 1983

Plate #593A Stoneware and glaze. 19 x 19 x 3 inche 1985

Untitled #625 1973 Ceramic tiles King County Administration Building, Seattle

Untitled, Plate 6,000.00 Robert Sperry stoneware and glaze 27 x 27 x 3.5" 1986