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Date of submission

Richard Turner

Robert Chapman Turner was an American potter who was born in 1913 in Port

Washington, New York. He was known for functional pottery, inspired teaching and sculptural

vessels. During his childhood, he was exposed to art and took art classes at the Pratt Institute

with the help of a sculptor. He went to Swarthmore College where he studied and graduated in

1936 with a Bachelor of Arts degree ("Biography").

Turner married Sue Legget Thomas in 1938. The two had met at Swarthmore College

when she was majoring in Economics. After he had graduated he went to Europe with a friend

and was amazed at the many great works of art in the cities and museums. It is then that he was

sure that art would become more of an interest to him but also part of his life.

Between 1936 and 1941 he studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

During his first time at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, he received the Cresson

Travelling Scholarship in painting twice. In 1939 he used the scholarship to travel to Europe with

his wife, however, the World War turned very ugly and he and his wife had to travel back to the

United States. He used the second scholarship to tour the United States and concentrated more on

Native Americans and their culture. In 1949, Turner earned a Master of Fine Arts degree (MFA)

from Alfred University's New York State College of Ceramics.

Turner was a member of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the organizations

gold medal which was the highest honor. Turner was also a fellow of the International Academy
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of Ceramics. He received numerous awards in his 60-year old career as a ceramic artist. He also

participated in group and solo exhibitions in the United States and abroad. Turner's work is

found in the section of permanent collections in museums in New Zealand, Japan, the

Smithsonian, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and

other public and private collections (Clark 134).

Art Work and Teaching

In the 1970s Turner started making abstract, non-functional pottery using an approach

similar to clay taught by Peter Voulkos. He also traveled to Western Africa and came back to the

States to make distinctive vessel forms that he named after African kingdoms and peoples. In the

1980s, he was still making vessels using African artistic impressions he had learned from his

African trip. He also reduced his visual vocabulary to cylinder and cone shapes colored with

three hues, red-brown, whites, and blue-black ("Turner | The Marks Project").

In addition, Turner was also a lecturer at Alfred University's School of Art and Design.

He started the ceramics program in North Carolina's Black Mountain College. Turner also taught

as a visiting lecturer at the University of Wisconsin. He also lectured and taught at art in summer

sessions at the Anderson Ranch in Aspen, and North Carolina's Penland School. Apart from

teaching he was a chairman of the B.O.D of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle of

Craft.

Last Days

Turner and his family left New York and settled in a retirement community located in

Sandy Springs. He established his studio in a garage at the retirement community. He passed

away while living there on July 26, 2005. In 2005 Alfred University honored and recognized its

distinguished alumnus by establishing the Robert Turner Chair in Ceramic Art.

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Works Cited

Clark, G. (1987). American ceramics: 1876 to the present. Abbeville Press.

"Biography." Robert C. Turner - American Ceramic Artist, www.robertcturner.com/bio.html.

"Turner | The Marks Project." The Marks Project - A Marks Dictionary of American Studio

Pottery, 1946 to Present, www.themarksproject.org/marks/turner.