MAK unveils first major retrospective of Wiener Werkstätte star Vally Wieselthier

“Tell these people who I am!”—surely nothing captures the high artistic aspirations of the famous designer Vally Wieselthier (1895−1945) as concisely as her own words. Radically expressive, confident, and far ahead of her time, she broke the mold of functional pottery. She considered herself a sculptor and created masonry heaters, fountains, wall friezes, as well as impressive sculptures, but she was also a successful textile artist and graphic designer. With its first comprehensive retrospective on the artist entitled VALLY WIESELTHIER: Ceramic Sculptor, the MAK is turning the spotlight on her career in Europe and the United States and demonstrating her lasting and ongoing impact on Austrian ceramic art on the basis of 160 select objects. The exhibition was inspired by the partial bequest of her estate by her family in the US. Wieselthier was a student of Josef Hoffmann and Michael Powolny at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts and is