Born Eva Amalia Stricker in Budapest, Hungary in 1906, Eva Zeisel was a uniquely accomplished ceramicist and designer, who by her early 20s had already become an accomplished artist in the field.  She worked first in Budapest, then for Schramberger Majolikafabrik in Germany, and by 1932 was in the Soviet Union, soon to be appointed Artistic Director of the China and Glass Industry in 1935 at the age of 29.

In 1936, it all came crashing down when she was falsely imprisoned for a plot to assassinate Stalin, serving 18 months in prison, with 14 of those months in solitary confinement.  Without explanation, she was released in 1937 and expelled from the USSR.  Her experience is at the core of Arthur Koestler’s famous novel, Darkness at Noon.

Zeisel rejoined family in Vienna, but soon fled to England in the wake of the Anschluss, the occupation and annexation of Austria by the Nazis.  From Vienna, she made her way to New York, where her career took off and carried her without pause to the age of 105.  Right to the end, she was highly sought, hugely productive and widely admired.

Her career in America produced innumerable items that have become classics of mid-century modernist design, uniquely human and organic in their form and beauty, often in contrast to much design of the era and its offshoots that can sometimes be relatively cold and mechanical.

Pat Moore, project director and primary author of Eva Zeisel: Art, Design, and Beauty, was determined to bring this beautiful and comprehensive book into print, and has succeeded gloriously.  The book is the culmination of years of concerted effort, and benefits from the participation of some fine and distinguished collaborators and contributors.  Pat will relate anecdotes about Zeisel and her work, and will show examples of Zeisel’s art and design.  Pat co-founded the Eva Zeisel forum, and lives just up the street from Glen Park in the Sunnyside.