Roger Capron

(French, 1922–2006)

Roger Capron was an influential French ceramicist, known for both his tiled tables and his use of recurring motifs such as stylized branches and geometrical suns. He was born on September 4, 1922 in Vincennes, France and studied at the Applied Arts School in Paris from 1939 to 1943. After working as an art teacher, he moved to Vallauris in 1946 and, along with Robert Picault and Jean Derval, founded a ceramics workshop called l’Atelier Callis. His awards for his craft include the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennial in 1954, the Prix du Ministère des Affaires Culturelles in 1968, and the Grand Prix International de la Céramique in 1970. By 1980, his workshop employed nearly 120 people, and it was during this time that he reverted to creating singular, one-off pieces which were shown internationally to critical acclaim. Following the economic crisis, his factory closed in 1982. He died on November 8, 2006.