New Paperback Edition: Lucie Rie: Modernist Potter

Lucie Rie: Modernist Potter by Emmanuel Cooper is now published in paperback and available to purchase.

Lucie Rie (1902–1995), one of the twentieth century's most celebrated and iconic potters, combined an acute understanding of modernism with the skills of her chosen craft. During the course of her sixty-year career, she continually honed and refined her work, developing new shapes and surface effects that were distinctly her own. Her delicately shaped bowls, bottles, and other vessels reflect her commitment to simplicity and clarity of form, earning her both critical and popular acclaim.

Emmanuel Cooper, a distinguished potter who knew Rie, interviewed many of her friends and acquaintances to produce this complete and detailed account of Rie's life and work. The author was given unrestricted access by the Rie estate to previously unpublished letters and other material, which provide fascinating new insights into her life and work and allowed him to reevaluate Rie's creative output within the broader context of modernism and the emergence of the studio pottery movement in Britain.

‘It [is] unlikely that this biography of Rie will ever be surpassed.’ —Frances Spalding, Literary Review

‘A precious gift, from the only man who could have written it.’ —Glenn Adamson, Crafts Magazine