Lucie Rie at the Teien Museum: The 2026 Exhibition
3 min readLucie Rie: Elegant Vessels Fusing East and West ran at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum from 4 July to 13 September 2026. This guide, based on the museum’s published material, introduces the artist and the exhibition’s themes. The Tokyo run has ended; the announced Osaka dates are below.
Who was Lucie Rie?
Lucie Rie (1902–1995) trained in ceramics in Vienna and moved to London in 1938 after being forced into exile. Her wheel-thrown bowls and bottles combine carefully shaped profiles with varied glazes. Decoration includes inlay and sgraffito, in which scratching through a surface layer reveals the colour beneath.
The V&A’s account of Rie as a British studio potter places her work within the life she built in London and her earlier Austrian training.
Why “East and West”?
The museum paired Rie’s work with pieces by Josef Hoffmann, Bernard Leach, Hans Coper and Hamada Shōji. Those connections provided a way to examine her work alongside East Asian ceramics, rather than treating “East and West” as a description of one uniform style.
Rie’s work received a major introduction in Japan at Sogetsu Kaikan in 1989, followed by exhibitions in 2010 and 2015. For background on Japanese ceramic materials and production, read our guides to stoneware and porcelain and pottery regions.
Works selected for the exhibition
The published selection drew on collections across Japan, including the Iuchi Collection deposited at the National Crafts Museum. It ranged from an early bowl to later footed forms, fluted and marbled vases, a coffee set and ceramic buttons. The variety offered several ways to follow her use of line, glaze and proportion.
The setting: an Art Deco residence from 1933
Completed in 1933 as Prince Asaka’s residence, the museum’s Main Building retains an Art Deco domestic setting. The exhibition also used the Annex. In its outline, the museum presented the relationship between Rie’s vessels and the former residence as part of the exhibition’s approach.
The garden and architecture remain reasons to visit the museum beyond this exhibition. Check current access arrangements and what is on view before travelling.
Tokyo dates and later presentation
The Tokyo exhibition took place at 5-21-9 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, from 4 July to 13 September 2026. The official exhibition page records the programme, admission arrangements and photography rules for that run.
The museum lists an Osaka presentation at Abeno Harukas Art Museum from 26 December 2026 to 7 March 2027. Confirm dates, tickets and visitor rules with that venue; Tokyo’s arrangements do not apply automatically.
Looking at form and surface
When looking at reproductions or documented works, follow the profile from foot to rim, then notice how lines cross the form or glaze gathers at an edge. These are useful ways to compare ceramics without assuming that similar surfaces establish a direct artistic influence.
Our tea and glaze colour guide explores everyday visual choices. Contemporary shop examples include a Kutani rabbit chawan, an Iroe Yū floral bowl and a Mino-yaki cup, within the tea-lover’s collection. These are separate works by their stated makers, not Rie designs.
Updated 13 September 2026 after the Tokyo run. Exhibition details come from the Teien Art Museum’s official page; this article is a researched guide, not a record of a ZenKiln visit.
