Eighty years ago, pottery was largely considered a craft rather than fine art. A few pottery pioneers changed that perception irrevocably so that today, the best examples of pottery are on an equal footing with fine paintings and sculptures. Among these pioneers is Dame Lucie Rie (1902 – 1995) whose stylish and elegant ceramics played a pivotal role in elevating the status of pottery from craft to art.  With an independent style beyond the trends and expectations of members of her entourage, she is recognized as an important figure in the modern art of ceramics. 

Lucie Gomperz was born in Vienna in 1902, the youngest of three children in a Jewish family. Her father, Benjamin Gomperz was a doctor, and an acquaintance with Sigmund Freud. At the age of twenty, Lucie started studying art and crafts at the Kunstgewerbeschule, where under the mentorship of Michael Powolny, she learned to throw, a technique she used throughout her career. It was in Vienna that Lucie acquired an enduring fascination with glazes. She began developing her style of making pottery with clay, stone, and minerals. But unlike her contemporaries, she did not follow the strict lines of an aesthetic direction, but instead, was inspired by nature and architecture. Following the war, she fled Vienna, and together with her husband, Hans Rie, arrived in London where she remained for the rest of her life.

Just as the broader art scene in London shifted in the early 1960s, so too did Lucie’s work. Her experiments with glazes led to the introduction of new, thick, textured glazes, and by the 1970s, she created works in pinks and blues which served to emphasize the elegance of her thrown forms. Pushing the boundaries further led to works with detailed painterly designs, many of which are evocative of a Pollock or de Kooning painting, and to her signature tapered bright-colored bowls topped with luscious bronzed rims.

Selected Works of Lucie Rie