Eva Zeisel: Life, Design, and Beauty

by Pat Moore, Pat Kirkham (Editor), Pirco Wolfframm, Brent C. Brolin (Photographer), Eva Zeisel (Introduction)

Overview

Eva Zeisel was one of the twentieth century's most influential ceramicists and designers of modern housewares. Her distinctive take on modern industrial design was inspired by organic form and brought beauty and playfulness to housewares, earning her designs a beloved place in midcentury homes. This richly illustrated volume—the first-ever complete biographical account of Zeisel's life and work—presents an extensive survey of every line she ever created, all captured in gorgeous new photography, plus 28 short essays from scholars, collectors, curators, and designers. The definitive book on the grande dame of twentieth-century ceramics, this is an essential resource for anyone who appreciates modern design.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452108520
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	10/15/2013
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 10.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Pat Kirkham is a professor at the Bard Graduate Center and author of several books. She lives in New York.

Pat Moore is co-founder of the Eva Zeisel Forum and an avid researcher of Zeisel's work. She lives in San Francisco.

Pirco Wolfframm is an internationally published graphic designer and writer. She lives in New York.



Eva Zeisel's (1906–2011) works are collected by museums across the globe.

Editorial Reviews

"A remarkable tribute to one of the 20th century's most adept ceramicists and designers of housewares." - San Jose Mercury News

"A remarkable tribute to one of the 20th century's most adept ceramicists and designers of housewares." - San Jose Mercury News

"A remarkable tribute to one of the 20th century's most adept ceramicists and designers of housewares." - San Jose Mercury News

"It is a pleasure to find a book that combines elegant design and readability with thorough research, especially when the subject is the fascinating 105-year life of ceramic designer Eva Zeisel.... A beautifully illustrated survey of the life and work of an important designer, useful to both collectors and readers interested in 20th-century modernism." -Library Journal

"It is a pleasure to find a book that combines elegant design and readability with thorough research, especially when the subject is the fascinating 105-year life of ceramic designer Eva Zeisel.... A beautifully illustrated survey of the life and work of an important designer, useful to both collectors and readers interested in 20th-century modernism." -Library Journal

"It is a pleasure to find a book that combines elegant design and readability with thorough research, especially when the subject is the fascinating 105-year life of ceramic designer Eva Zeisel.... A beautifully illustrated survey of the life and work of an important designer, useful to both collectors and readers interested in 20th-century modernism." -Library Journal

"A loving look at both her life and her work, with stunning photographs that beautifully showcase Zeisel's creations." - BookPage

"A loving look at both her life and her work, with stunning photographs that beautifully showcase Zeisel's creations." - BookPage

"A loving look at both her life and her work, with stunning photographs that beautifully showcase Zeisel's creations." - BookPage

"At once scholarly and intimate, this book honors the unique life and artistic achievements of Eva Zeisel.... Her designs are photographed with magical light by Brent Brolin and chronicled by Kirkham and her co-authors, Pat Moore and Pirco Wolfframm, who also became devoted friends and scholars of all things Zeisel. Whether emerging out of darkness or basking against a warm, bright glow, each piece pops with boldness of contour and subtlety of surface."- Ellen Lupton, Designers Books

"At once scholarly and intimate, this book honors the unique life and artistic achievements of Eva Zeisel.... Her designs are photographed with magical light by Brent Brolin and chronicled by Kirkham and her co-authors, Pat Moore and Pirco Wolfframm, who also became devoted friends and scholars of all things Zeisel. Whether emerging out of darkness or basking against a warm, bright glow, each piece pops with boldness of contour and subtlety of surface."- Ellen Lupton, Designers Books

"At once scholarly and intimate, this book honors the unique life and artistic achievements of Eva Zeisel.... Her designs are photographed with magical light by Brent Brolin and chronicled by Kirkham and her co-authors, Pat Moore and Pirco Wolfframm, who also became devoted friends and scholars of all things Zeisel. Whether emerging out of darkness or basking against a warm, bright glow, each piece pops with boldness of contour and subtlety of surface."- Ellen Lupton, Designers Books

From the Publisher

12/01/2013
It is a pleasure to find a book that combines elegant design and readability with thorough research, especially when the subject is the fascinating 105-year life of ceramic designer Eva Zeisel. Kirkham (Bard Graduate Ctr.), Pat Moore (cofounder, Eva Zeisel Forum), and graphic designer and writer Pirco Wolfframm have compiled both an account of the artist's life as well as an examination of her work. From Zeisel's birth in Budapest in 1906 until her move to the Soviet Union in 1932, she was educated and lived in Vienna, Berlin, and various small German cities. Flouting convention by plunging into the male-dominated, working-class environment of the potteries was characteristic of Zeisel's disregard for what polite society required of women at the time. Also distinctive was her disastrous decision to help the Russians build a new utopia, which ended in her arrest and the collapse of her first marriage. Immigrating to the United States just ahead of World War II with her second husband, Zeisel began a career that produced about 10,000 designs for ceramic firms in Europe, Asia, and North America. The initial chapter on her life is followed by 26 chapters illustrating and discussing particular groups of designs for ceramics, plastic, and metalware. Specific information on sizes, shapes, and hallmarks is supplied in a 49-page taxonomy. VERDICT A beautifully illustrated survey of the life and work of an important designer, useful to both collectors and readers interested in 20th-century modernism.—David McClelland, Andover, NY

Library Journal