Artist Info
Ruth Duckworth
Ruth Duckworth (April 10, 1919 – October 18, 2009) was a modernist sculptor who specialized in ceramics, though she also worked in stoneware, porcelain, and bronze. Her sculptures are mostly untitled. She is best known for Clouds over Lake Michigan, a wall sculpture.
Born Ruth Windmüller on April 10, 1919 in Hamburg, Germany, Ruth Duckworth took up drawing after a doctor recommended that she remain homebound to improve her health.
The daughter of a Lutheran mother and a Jewish father, she left Germany to study at the Liverpool College of Art in 1936, as she could not study art in her home country under the restrictions imposed by Nazi Germany. She later studied at the Hammersmith School of Art and at the City and Guilds of London Art School, where she learned stone carving. Using these skills, she launched her sculptural career and began specializing in tombstone carvings. When she applied for art school, she was asked if she wanted to focus on drawing, painting, or sculpting. She insisted that she wanted to study all of them; after all, she replied, Michelangelo had done so.
1919: Born Hamburg, Germany
1936 – 1940: Liverpool School of Art
1955: Hammersmith School of Art
1956 – 1958: Central School of Arts and Crafts London
1982: Honorary Doctorate, DePaul University Chicago
2007: Honorary Doctorate Degree, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, Michigan, USA
from Wikipedia
