For the poet and critic, see Robert Archambeau (poet)
Robert Archambeau is a Canadian ceramic artist. Born in Toledo, Ohio, United States in 1933, he immigrated to Canada in 1968. His work, heavily influenced by Japanese ceramics, has been exhibited internationally and is held in many major public and private collections around the world. While living in Japan he worked closely with the artist Akio Takamori and in the studio of Jun Kaneko.
He is Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Manitoba, where he taught for 23 years, retiring in 1991. He also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2003 he became an artist laureate recipient of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, Canada's highest artistic honor. In 2008 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual NCECA conference held in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to his prominence in the field of ceramic art, he is known as an educator and an art collector. These three facets of his career are chronicled in the exhibition catalogue Robert Archambeau: Artist, Teacher, Collector, with essays by Helen Delacretaz and Edward Lebow.
He has worked closely with painter Don Reichert, who also taught at the University of Manitoba. Both artists operate studios in the remote Canadian town of Bissett, Manitoba.
His son, also named Robert Archambeau, is a poet and literary critic, whose works include the books Word Play Place, Home and Variations, and Laureates and Heretics.