A female studio potter who, judging by rising auction prices, is enjoying renewed appreciation, is Lucie Rie. Born in Vienna, she worked as potter there during the 1920s, but in 1938 fled Austria for England to escape Nazism. While in England she formed a long lasting friendship with Hans Coper (1920-1981) a fellow refugee from Nazism. From 1946 to 1958, Rie and Coper shared her studio near Hyde Park, London, the close friendship influencing each other’s work, as each looked to ancient ceramic traditions. While Coper preferred a more artistic, sculptural style, Rie developed a more experimental style, often using a raw glaze technique of applying glaze directly to the raw clay and firing only once. Appreciation for Rie’s work did not build until she exhibited at the 1951 Festival of Britain and subsequently started supplying tableware to Heal’s department store. Prolific in her work, Rie continued working until her late eighties. Her work is often described as modernist, refined and elegant and is in the collections of several museums, including MOMA, The Metropolitan Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The Victoria and Albert museum recreated her studio in a Gallery devoted to ceramic production.
Lucie Rie studio, Victoria and Albert Museum. Bowl, porcelain, ca.1968. Metropolitan Museum. Vase, stoneware,1979. Metropolitan Museum. Vase, stoneware, ca.1967. Metropolitan Museum.