Roger Capron

Roger Capron (1922-2006) was a French ceramicist. Trained in drawing at the École des Arts Appliqués in Paris, he moved to Vallauris in 1946 and opened the Callis workshop with Robert Picault, later joined by Jean Derval, taking part in the postwar revival of ceramics on the Côte d’Azur, following his master René Gabriel’s idea of beautiful things within everyone’s reach.

From 1952 he ran his own pottery at Font des Horts, producing tableware, decorative panels and, from 1955, tiles and tables. His work earned a gold medal at the Milan Triennale in 1954, a 150-square-metre ceramic frieze for the Cannes maritime station, architectural ceramics for the Byblos hotel in Saint-Tropez and the Grand Prix international de la céramique in 1970. The Garrigue series, with tiles imprinted by leaves and objects, remains among his best-known work.