Overview

With a trailblazing career that spans more than seventy-five years and continues to this day, Eva Ziesel stands at the forefront of twentieth-century designers. Her works, mostly in ceramics and glass, are the expression of a profoundly independent vision, unconstrained by design conventions, fads, or ideologies, and are featured in the permanent collections of museums throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Her belly-button wall dividers are part of the modern décor in the lobby of the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles. In this lavishly illustrated, full colour book, the designed for the first time communicates the ideas that have guided and inspired her work throughout her career. Each aspect of the design process is analysed - variety, spontaneity, line, contour, shading, and texture, among others - to show how the best works emerge out of a dialogue between creator and object who's result is an environment that is pleasurable, comfortable, and elegant. The language in which this dialogue is conducted, 'the language of things' is one in which Ziesel's fluency is unparalleled, and her thoughts, read alongside photographs of her stunning creations and of those that have inspired her, make this book indispensable to every enthusiast of art, ceramics, and design.

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9780715642115

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Reviews

'Zeisel's simple, fluid forms and sensual curves in everything from her tableware to tiles to glassware to furniture to rugs have identified her as one of the most innovative and influential designers of the 20th century' New York Home Design 'She is absolutely one of the greats of twentieth-century design - Her work is about the emotional effect objects have on us. It is the most essential and meaningful activity.' Victoria & Albert Museum

'Ziesel's designs are timelessly lyrical and sensuous... She is more than an industrial ceramist who made a significant impression in the 20th century. She is an artist who has not lost her muse: life' Sahid Zardar San Francisco Chronicle 'In the design whorl Ziesel has always been ahead of, or outside, her time. She produced rounded shapes and celebrated colour and pattern while serious design proposed straight lines, functionalism, and minimalism... Ziesel has always been more than a grande dame of design. She is justly revered for enlivening the 20th century with elegant, expressive modern ceramics' Linda Hales The Washington Post 'She is absolutely one of the greats of twentieth-century design... Her work is about the emotional effect objects have on us. It is the most essential and meaningful activity.' Christopher Wilk, Chief Curator, Department of Furniture and Woodwork, The Victoria & Albert Museum 'One of the most respected post-war product designers in North America' Guardian 'There's an aura of wonder about Eva Zeisel. It's in the fantasy of her forms, her passionate engagement with the world, and the extraordinary twists of her life' Karen E. Steen Metropolis 'Zeisel's simple, fluid forms and sensual curves in everything from her tableware to tiles to glassware to furniture to rugs have identified her as one of the most innovative and influential designers of the 20th century' New York Home Design 'She is absolutely one of the greats of twentieth-century design - Her work is about the emotional effect objects have on us. It is the most essential and meaningful activity.' Victoria & Albert Museum

Author Information

Born in Budapest in 1906, Eva Ziesel emigrated to the United States in 1938. She has designed for companies including Schramberger, Lomonsov, Castleton, Red Wing, Hallcraft, Nambé, and KleinRed. Among her many accolades and honours, she has received th Pratt Legends Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, The Russel Wright Award, and a Senior Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was the subject of a touring exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Montreal. The 2002 documentary Throwing Curves is based on her life and work. Eva Ziesel has taught courses in industrial design at Pratt Institute, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Royal College of Art in London. She lives in New York City.

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