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Harlequin Gallery |
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Dame
Lucie Rie (1902 - 1995) |
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Lucie Rie
was born in Vienna in 1902 and made her first pots there in 1923 after
enrolling at the Wiener Werkstatte, where Michael Powolny was her teacher.
She came to England in 1937 with her husband because of the worsening
conditions in Austria and remained here until her death in 1995. Although Lucie had something of a reputation for her pottery in
Europe, this counted for nothing in England. Up until the end of the Second
World War (don't mention the war) her pottery was largely confined to the
production of buttons and hatpins but the meeting with Hans Coper in 1946
changed all this. Coper was also a refugee and, although he had no pottery
training, Lucie took him on as her assistant. It was really his encouragement
that freed Lucie to make the pots that came naturally to her and helped her
become one of the important figures in the world of art in the 20th century. Much has been written about Lucie, which makes it rather
pointless trying to summarize her life and work here. However, Ursula
Mommens, who is also a featured Harlequin Gallery artist, recalls meeting her
and regrets never taking up Lucie's invitation to go and visit her at her
studio. Ursula states that someone told her that for visitors Lucie made
"rather delicious cakes" and Ursula felt that Lucie "ought to
spend her time making pots and not waste time making cakes" for her!
Lucie may have done a little baking but did find time to leave behind a rich
legacy of pottery for us to admire. Currently
the gallery has no work by Lucie Rie available. |
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