Elizabeth Fritsch

Hand-Built pot by Elizabeth Fritsch

Elizabeth Fritsch MA(RCA) CBE (born 1940) is a Welsh studio potter.^[1] Her hand built painted pots are often influenced by music, painting, literature and architecture.^[2] Fritsch studied harp and then piano at the Royal Academy of Music from 1958 to 1964, but later took up ceramics under Hans Coper and Eduardo Paolozzi at the Royal College of Art from 1968 to 1971. In 1985, she set up a studio in east London, England.^[3] Since her first show in 1972, Fritsch has had a number of solo shows. In 1996 and 2001 she was shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Ceramics. Fritsch's work is represented in major collections and museums around the world.^[4] and in Britain.^[5] A major retrospective was held at the National Museum Cardiff, Wales, in 2010, featuring a complete range of her most significant studio pottery and recent pieces where she also considered 'the space between the second and third dimensions', a concept she first described as ‘two-and-a-half dimensions’.^[6] 'Dynamic Structures: Painted Vessels' also marked her 70th birthday.^[7]

Awards

• 2001: Shortlisted for Jerwood Prize
• 1995: Awarded CBE
• 1995: Elected Senior Fellowship, Royal College of Art
• 1993: Gold Medali, Visuelle Spiele, International Handwerksmesse München
• 1987: Bernard Leach Centenary Post Office Stamp issue with Hans Coper & Lucie Rie
• 1980: John Ruskin Bursary for Fictional Archaeology project
• 1976: Gold Medal, International Ceramics Competition, Sopot, Poland
• 1972: Prize Winner, Royal Copenhagen Jubilee
• 1970: Silver Medal Royal College of Art: Herbert Read Memorial Prize

Museum collections

• National Museum of Wales,^[8]
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York^[9]
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London^[10]

Solo exhibitions

• 2010: National Museum Cardiff, Wales, UK. Dynamic Structures: Painted Vessels by Elizabeth Fritsch. Oct 2 2010–Jan 2 2011^[11]
• 2008: Fine Art Society - London November 11-December.^[12]
• 2007: Retrospective, Bonhams, London
• 2007: Anthony Hepworth Gallery, Bath
• 2000: Metaphysical Vessels, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 2000: Memory of Architecture, Part II, Besson Gallery, London
• 1998: Sea Pieces, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
• 1995-6: Retrospective touring to Munich, Karlsruhe, Halle and Bellerive, Zurich
• 1995: Metaphysical Pots, Bellerive Museum
• 1994-5: Order and Chaos, Bellas Artes, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 1994: Osiris Gallery, Brussels
• 1993-5: Vessels from Another World, Northern Centre for the Contemporary Arts, Sunderland, travelling to Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Norwich, UK
• 1992-3: Retrospective, Pilscheur Fine Art, London
• 1991: Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany
• 1990: Cross Rhythms and Counterpoint, Edinburgh, Scotland
• 1978: Leeds Galleries, Temple Newsham; travelled to Glasgow, Bristol, Gateshead, Bolton, and V&A, London
• 1976: British Craft Centre, London
• 1974: Waterloo Place Gallery, London
• 1972: Bing and Grondahl, Copenhagen

Bibliography

1. Edward Lucie-Smith on Elizabeth Fritsch: Vessels from another World, Metaphysical pots Painted Stoneware, Bellew Publishing, 1993. ISBN 1-85725-098-2 ISBN 978-1-85725-098-5
2. Peter Dormer and David Cripps “Elizabeth Fritsch in Studio – A view”, In Studio Series, Bellew, London, 1985. ISBN 978-0-947792-04-6
3. Elizabeth Fritsch, pots about music. Authors: Elizabeth Fritsch, David Cripps, Leeds City Art Gallery (England), David Queensberry, Alison Britton, Ian Bennett. Publisher, Leeds Art Galleries, 1978, ASIN B0007AT9X2
4. E. Cameron & P. Lewis, Potters on Pottery, Elizabeth Fritsch, pgs. 62-69 Evans Brothers, London 1976. ISBN 0-312-63280-0

Publications

• Dynamic Structures: Painted Vessels by Elizabeth Fritsch, published by the National Museum of Wales, October 2010, ISBN 978-0-7200-0611-7
• Elizabeth Fritsch The Fine Art Society, London, in association with Joanna Bird Pottery, for the exhibition Elizabeth Fritsch, 12 to 27 November 2008, ISBN 978-0-905062-57-0
• Studio: Ceramicists and their studios was an exhibition of photographs by Phil Sayer at the Ruthin Craft Centre. Philip Hughes, Amanda Fielding and Lisa Rostron (Designer) 2010, Published by Ruthin Craft Centre, ISBN 978-1-905865-25-3

Articles

1. LAURA GASCOIGNE "Ahead of their time" © PROLITTERIS, ZURICH, The Spectator, SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2011
2. The Wall Street Journal 'A New Spin on Ceramics' by Margaret Studer, 18 May 2006
3. Moira Vincentelli “Women & Ceramics, Gendered Vessels”, Manchester University Press, 2000, pg 249. ISBN 0-7190-3840-5, ISBN 978-0-7190-3840-2
4. Garth Clark “The Potter’s Art”, Phaidon 1995, pgs 200-01. ISBN 0-7148-3202-2, ISBN 978-0-7148-3202-9
5. John Houston The Abstract pot forms of expression and decoration by nine artist potters, Bellew Publishing 1991.
6. Fischer Fine Art (1986) Nine Potters Bernard Leach, Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie, Michael Cardew, Hans Coper, Lucie Rie, Elizabeth Fritsch, Ewen Henderson, Elizabeth Raeburn, Claudi Casanovas’ Catalogue of an exhibition held at Fisher Fine Art, 1986. ASIN B001ON0RX2
7. John Russell Taylor, Elizabeth Fritsch - Pots About Music 'Ceramic Review', 58 Jul/Aug 1979 pgs 30-33.
8. J.D.H. Catleugh Recent Pots, Improvisations from Earth to Air, ‘Ceramic Review’, 44 Mar/Apr 1977 pg 7.

Broadcasts

BBC Private Passions, Classic Arts Production, On 14 April 2001 Michael Berkeley's guest was Elizabeth Fritsch Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Ceramic Points of View: 'Optical Pot', by Elizabeth Fritsch Video Podcasts^[13]

References

External links

• Elizabeth Fritsch website