Ruth Duckworth

Ceramicist
German/American, (1919–2009)

---

Ruth Duckworth was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1919 to a Lutheran mother and Jewish father. She first began exploring artmaking as a child when a doctor suggested she stay homebound to improve her health issues. In 1936, due to restrictions on Jewish students in Germany, Duckworth moved to England to study ceramics at the Liverpool College of Art.

After finishing school in Liverpool, Duckworth took on several jobs as a puppeteer and headstone carver before taking up a position as an instructor at the University of Chicago, where she wou d teach for 13 years and live until her death in 2009.