Betty Davenport Ford

Biography to Display:

1924 Born Upland, California

EDUCATION

1946BA Ceramic Sculpture, Scripps College, Claremont, California

1950MFA Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

—Ceramic Sculptor

—Scripps College, Claremont, California

—Pasadena College, Pasadena, California

BIOGRAPHY

Betty Davenport Ford is known for sculptural work. Drawn to the animal form as a young artist, this fascination reoccurred in her work throughout her professional career. As her work developed she simplified the forms into abstractions to capture the essence of the animal she was depicting. Ford also cast her works in Bronze.

Ford’s husband, Harold, photographed each sculpture providing a valuable tool for the study of her work.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Public Collections to Display:

American Museum of Ceramic Art, (AMOCA), Pomona, California

Inland Empire Museum of Art, Upland, California

Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography to Display:

“Featured Artist.” American Artist Magazine. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill, 1958.

Ford, Harold H. The Sculpture of Betty Davenport Ford. Padua Press, 2005.

Lynn, Martha Drexler. American Studio Ceramics: Innovation and Identity, 1940 to 1979. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.

Typical Marks