Simple, yet infinitely subtle and complex is how Lucie Rie's biographer Tony Birks describes her work. As a person she showed the same combination of opposites - sturdy yet frail, economical yet luxuriant, correct yet fallible.

Described as one of the world's most important potters of the 20th century, Lucie Rie has left a legacy of singularly discernible ceramics. Her work is extremely stylish and sophisticated, displaying a mid-European flavour. Her distinctive sgraffito lines - scratched in the clay - give an immediate identity to each piece.

Works on show have been carefully selected from private owners, and include some from the Dowse Art Museum collection. The Rose and Frankl families recently donated a six-piece coffee set to the Dowse. Olga and Hans Frankl - both contemporaries of Lucie Rie in pre-war Austria, were responsible for introducing Wellingtonians to European artworks in the 1960s when they opened a designer gift shop - Le Cadeau on Lambton Quay. Lucie fled Vienna in 1938 and set up her own pottery in London, from where she worked prodigiously until well into her nineties. It was a liberating move in more than one sense for her, as it allowed her creativity to flourish in an unimpeded way. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in her eighties.

The LUCIE RIE exhibition offers a unique chance to view a few collected works from this sophisticated and immensely talented ceramist.

Images of work in the exhibition
Please click on thumbnail for larger image.

Lucie Rie (pictured above)
Coffee Set
c. 1950s
Stoneware, sgraffito, tin glaze

Lucie Rie
Bowl
Late c. 1960s
Stoneware, sgraffito

Lucie Rie
Bowl
Late c. 1960s
Porcelain, uranium, yellow glaze

Lucie Rie
Vase
c. 1950s
Stoneware, sgraffito