Plaque with still life

Henry Varnum Poor was an artist, who like many, worked in multiple mediums. His work shows the influence of international art movements. Trained as a painter, Poor traveled and studied abroad, first in London at the Slade School of Fine Art, where he became acquainted with the work of of the Omega Workshops and Roger Fry, as well as modern French painting, and especially the work of Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, and others. After World War I, Poor established a small studio and home in Rockland County, New York. He often treated his ceramic surfaces as if they were canvases, primarily decorating tiles, plates, plaques, as seen here, and only occasionally vessel forms. The design on this plaque, with its bold coloration and painted design reveals the influence of French modernist painters, such as Matisse, Andre Derain, Maurice Vlaminck, Kees Van Dongen, and many others.