Lot 426: LEZA MCVEY

LEZA MCVEY VESSEL WITH STOPPER incised Leza glazed ceramic 22 in. (55.9 cm) high circa 1950s

Collection of the artist
Private Collection

My brother and sister-in-law lived in Rochester, New York from 1978 until 1990. I often drove there to visit and shop, and enjoyed Buffalo with its Wright houses and the Albright-Knox, and East Aurora, the home of Roycroft. I occasionally ventured from there up to Toronto to visit the visionary collector and dealer Leonard Tompkinson, as well as 20th Century Gallery, the shop of Ross and Joanne Young, probably the most talented dealers of the time outside of New York. Ross and Joanne had great taste; they understood and explored Modernism, from its origins to the mid-century. On one visit in 1980, I bought from them a huge ceramic vessel that I thought might be American. It was signed LEZA on the bottom, which meant nothing to me. When I got back to Rochester I called Martin Eidelberg, who I knew from my days at Lillian Nassau. He was and still is the leading expert and writer on American ceramics, and he coined the term "What Modern Was" for the catalogue of the outstanding collection in Montreal curated by himself and David Hanks. Martin said, "Oh yes, that is Leza McVey from Cleveland, I just did an interview with her for a chapter I am doing for the upcoming Cranbrook catalogue."

This began a wonderful relationship I enjoyed with Leza and her husband Bill that continued until his death in 1995 (she died in 1986). I learned so much from them about their era at Cranbrook. They knew fellow alumni Charles and Ray Eames, Harry Bertoia, Toshika Takezu, and Jack Lenor Larson. Bill taught studio sculpture, while Leza honed her ceramics skills by studying with the sculptor Carl Milles, the ceramicist Maija Grotell, and the weaver Lola Saarinen, wife of the college director, Eliel Saarinen. You see evidence of the influences of these three great artists in Leza's work. She suffered all her life with a degenerative eye disease that forced her to abandon potting later in life. I visited their fantastic modern house outside of Cleveland many times, often with my friend Nance Darrow from Akron. Later I teamed up with my generous client, Phil Aarons and Martin to produce the first and only book on her work. Her work is represented in many museum collections, especially in Cleveland, Detroit and Cranbrook. -MM