Art: Potter Poor

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Henry Varnum Poor is a snub-nosed husky, dark from the sun. He was born in Kansas in 1888, attended Stanford University, studied painting at the Slade School and with Walter Sickert in London, and at the Julian Academy in Paris. After painting for several years, he found himself distressed by "the devitalizing isolation of the studio." Believing that modern art naturally tends to enhance utilitarian objects, Painter Poor became Potter Poor. He has now thoroughly infused his art with mundane strength. From shaping delicate urns and saucers, he turns cheerfully to designing a series of mosaic tiles for the Byzantine ceiling of the Union Dime Savings Bank in Manhattan, or a bathroom of mellow tiles for modern ablutions.

Near "Crow House," Potter Poor's rude and congenial workshop home, is a purling stream which he has dammed to provide water power for his ceramics apparatus. In the building are his kilns and potter's wheels. Much of "Crow House" was built by its owner. Even the door knobs are of Poor pottery. The Poor hobby: sailing boats.