Vase, 1929

Gudrun Baudisch-Wittke (1907–1982) went to arts-and-crafts school in Graz from 1922 before starting to work for the Wiener Werkstätte in 1926. It was through the Wiener Werkstätte that Baudisch met architect Clemens Holzmeister (1886–1983) who hired her several times to do decorative work in his buildings. From 1931, for example, she worked with him on the sculptural decoration of the presidential palace built for Kemal Atatürk in Ankara. In 1959/60, Baudisch received a commission for decorative ceramic works at the Großes Festspielhaus (Large Festival Theater) in Salzburg. This vase, reminiscent as it is of “primitive” vernacular art, emphasizes through the imperfect-looking glazing and application of color its artisanal making, creating all the more awareness for the ceramic material as such. In 1947, she established a pottery workshop named “Hallstatt Ceramics”. In that same year, she was also awarded the honorary title of professor. Baudisch died in 1982 I Hallein, Salzburg.

EF, 2021