EVA ZEISEL (1906-2011), DESIGNER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Eva Zeisel (born Éva Amália Striker, Budapest 1906 -2011 New City, New York) was one of the most important designers of the 20th century. She believed that beautiful things make people happy. Although she was known for her ceramic tableware, she also designed in glass, wood, plastic and metal. Her designs are in major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum and MoMA, where she had the first one woman show in 1946.
Talk by Eva’s daughter Jean Richards.
Eva was born in 1906 in Budapest to a well-known intellectual family, the Polanyi’s. She lived a rather unconventional life, spurred on by curiosity, designing for various factories around the world. Her curiosity and her work led her from Weimar Berlin to Russia, where she eventually became artistic director of the China and Glass Trust. Much to her surprise, while in Russia, she was arrested. Since she was not politically active, she assumed it was an error and she’d be back in a few days. She was accused of conspiring to assassinate Stalin. Although she was entirely innocent, she stayed in prison for 16 months, many in solitary confinement. Recent research shows that Stalin was directly involved in her case, and perhaps responsible for the decision to expel her rather than shoot her.
Eva Zeisel died in 2011 at the age of 105. Her designs are still on the market.
Jean Richards, a graduate of Yale Drama School, is an actor who appeared in minor and major theatre productions. She specialized in voice-overs and has written best-selling children’s books. Still on the market is “A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds”, Lerner Publishing.
The event is part of the series "Flight or Fight. stories of artists under repression," which is organized by The Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art, New York.
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