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The History of Ceramics
Lucie Rie & Hans Coper - Clay, Courage and Reinvention - Part 1
Lucie Rie & Hans Coper - Clay, Courage and Reinvention - Part 1
Born into the rich cultural world of Vienna, Lucie Rie was already an accomplished ceramic artist when the rise of Nazism forced her to leave everything behind. Arriving in London as a refugee in 1938, she faced the daunting challenge of rebuilding her life and career in an unfamiliar country. Yet through determination, technical brilliance, and an unmistakable artistic vision, she would become one of the defining figures of twentieth-century ceramics.
In this episode, we explore Rie's early life in Vienna, the artistic influences that shaped her distinctive style, and the resilience that carried her through exile and war. We discover how her elegant forms and luminous glazes challenged traditional ideas about pottery, and how her tiny London studio became the birthplace of a revolution in ceramic art.
This is more than the story of a remarkable potter. It is a story of courage, reinvention, and creativity flourishing against the odds.
Join Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh as they uncover the life and work of Lucie Rie—and discover how one extraordinary artist helped redefine the possibilities of clay.
Artworks:
Lucie Rie, Bronzed bowls from the 1980s Photograph by Sylvain Deleu © Estate of the artists/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Hans Coper, A group of Cycladic forms, late- 1970s – early-1970s Photograph by Sylvain Deleu © Estate of the artists/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Teapot Designed and Made for Ernst Plischke, 1928 Photograph by Sylvain Deleu © Estate of the artists/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Early London period bowl, c.1945 and Lucie Rie & Hans Coper, Early London period cylindrical lidded pot, c.1947 © Estate of the artists/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Early London period bowl, c.1945 and Lucie Rie & Hans Coper, Early London period cylindrical lidded pot, c.1947 © Estate of the artists/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Vase from the 'Black Firing', 1981 and Composite vase, known as the 'God Pot', c.1980 Photograph by Sylvain Deleu © Estate of the artists/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Vase with sgraffito design, c.1982 and Footed bowl, c.1978 Photograph by Sylvain Deleu © Estate of the artist/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Pink footed bowl, c.1980 Photograph by Sylvain Deleu © Estate of the artist/The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Bernard Leach, Thrown Bowl,, 1973 Provided by York Museumhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Bernard Leach Studio St Iveshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
PHOTOGRAPHS:
Lucie Rie and Hans Coper in front of Albion Mews, 1950s Photograph by Jane Coper © Estate of Jane Coper /The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation Image Courtesy of the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham
Lucie Rie and Hans Coper in front of Albion (B&W) Mews, early 1950s Photograph by Jane Coper © Estate of Jane Coper /The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, 1959-69 (in vehicle) Photograph by Jane Coper © Estate of Jane Coper /The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Albion Mews, c.1960 (at wheel) Photograph by Jane Coper © Estate of Jane Coper /The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Albion Mews, c.1960 (at wheel with pot) Photograph by Jane Coper © Estate of Jane Coper /The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie, Albion Mews, c.1967 (in studio) Photograph by Jane Coper © Estate of Jane Coper /The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Lucie Rie / Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel’ will be at Offer Waterman in London from 18 September - 31 October 2026
Professor Paul Greenhalgh is a specialist on the art and design of the Modern period. He has written widely on Art Nouveau and curated several exhibitions including the major survey Art Nouveau 1890-1914, which toured internationally (2000-01). His books include Ephemeral Vistas (1988), Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau 1890–1914 (2000), The Modern Ideal (2005), Fair World (2011), L’Art Nouveau: La Revolution Decorative (2013), Ceramic Art and Civilisation (2021) and Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth (2022). He has held positions as Head of Research at the V&A Museum, London; President and Director at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Director of the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich; and Inaugural Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, London. He was born and raised in Bolton, and is a proud Lancastrian.
Stephanie Rozene is a ceramic artist, Professor of Art, and the Ceramics Program Coordinator at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York she has been teaching, writing and making art since 2004. At Hartwick she's been honored with the Wandersee Scholar in Residence award twice, along with the Teacher Scholar Award. Stephanie's research uses historical ornament and porcelain as a visual language to critique contemporary political rhetoric, and she also explores the history of clay as a cooking tool. Her work has been shown extensively both nationally and internationally. She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics and is the Vice President of the board of trustees for the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, and was educated at NSCAD University in Nova Scotia, Canada and the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
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"This week on The History of Ceramics, we tell the remarkable story of Hans Coper, who arrived in Britain as a refugee with no experience of pottery and became one of the defining ceramic artists of the twentieth century. We explore his creative partnership with Lucie Rie, the bold sculptural forms that made his work unique, and the lasting legacy he left on modern ceramics. Join Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh as they discover how Hans Coper transformed clay into one of the great artistic languages of the modern age."
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