Now Open: LUCIE RIE & GERTRUD VASEGAARD: until 23 September 2021

LUCIE RIE
&
GERTRUD VASEGAARD

Until 23 September 2021

Gertrud Vasegaard, Bowl, 1970s, stoneware, 9.5 x 13.8 cm (left)
Lucie Rie, Bowl, 1956, porcelain, 13 x 26 cm (right)

Erskine, Hall & Coe are delighted to present Lucie Rie & Gertrud Vasegaard, an exhibition of works by two of the great 20th century artists working in clay.

To have the work of two modern potters, Lucie Rie and Gertrud Vasegaard, both internationally renowned for making some of the most beautiful and important ceramics of the 20th century, exhibited together for the first time is something of an achievement. It is a rare opportunity to be able to admire the similarities and differences between the sculptural works of these outstanding artists who, on a personal level, shared much in common.- Professor Henning Jørgensen

Lucie Rie, London, 1986 (left)
Gertrud Vasegaard, Copenhagen, 1984 (right)

Born in Vienna in 1902, Lucie Rie escaped to London as a refugee and established her own studio in Albion Mews in the late 1930s.  Renowned for her delicate and simple, yet elegant vases and bowls, she became one of Britain’s greatest modern potters and the recipient of many awards for her outstanding achievements in ceramics.

Gertrud Vasegaard was born in Rønne on the Danish island of Bornholm in 1913.  Having been brought up in a family of potters, she and her sister, Lisbeth Hjorth (Munch-Petersen) were the first producers of studio ceramics in Denmark.  Vasegaard used a soothing palette of glazes on her works, which are distinguished by their unique combination of simplicity and richness.  Recognised for her contribution to ceramics, Vasegaard is included in the Danish cultural canon and represented by a number of international public collections.

Bringing together over thirty works by Rie and Vasegaard, this exhibition offers a unique opportunity to admire the styles that have had an enduring influence on British and Danish ceramic art.  Jørgensen wrote that “when viewing the work of these two modern artists, we encounter the warmth of fired earth and a simple philosophy behind it: that of love and beauty.”

Lucie Rie, Bottle with flaring lip, 1970s, porcelain, 24.1 x 13 cm (left)
Gertrud Vasegaard, Bottle with stopper, 1940s, stoneware, 15 x 9.5 cm (right)

A catalogue accompanying the exhibition features an essay written by Jørgensen, an art critic and art historian based in Denmark, and author of the definitive monograph on Gertrud Vasegaard published in 2011.  We are grateful for his generous help in making this exhibition possible.

More works