Vally Wieselthier

Born in Vienna in 1895, Wieselthier trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule under Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, and Michael Powolny. Initially drawn to fashion, she soon turned to ceramics, discovering a medium that offered both expressive freedom and technical experimentation. In 1915, she joined the Wiener Werkstätte’s experimental Artists’ Workshop, a revolutionary hub of collaborative creativity and applied arts innovation. There, she developed the bold, lyrical, and playful approach that would define her career. After establishing her own workshop in Vienna in the 1920s and earning a gold medal at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, Wieselthier brought her visionary to New York.