Studio: international art (38.1906)

Studio-Talk

PLATES

DESIGNED BY JULIUS DIEZ

It is only recently that Diez has devoted himself
to ceramic art—a fact which the examples here
reproduced would almost seem to belie, for they
look as though they were centuries old, and remind
one strongly of some ancient book of fairy tales, or
such things as we read of in “ Till Eulenspiegel.”
Diez is a German primitive in his art, and his
essentially German interpretation of the world
around him is manifest from these most recent
products of his talent, for in these ceramic
designs we see at once the individual and the
nation to which he belongs. That which fascinates
the observer in these pieces of pottery is not so
much their colouring and subtle harmonies, as

the distinctively decorative qualities which they
reveal. Fantasy and humour are here combined
with motives of a fabulous character, in a way which
makes these creations of the artist objects of
delight. As to the animals we see depicted on
them, well, we have some very curious birds with
extraordinary tails, mythical stags, and that fabu-
lous creature, the unicorn, lying under a fruit-
laden tree; while in other pieces not here illus-
trated, the crafty fox and the solemn crane figure,
in every case with telling effect from a decorative
point of view. Let me add that the Diez pottery
is made at a place called Villingen, in the Black
Forest. Von L.

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