Erdödi, István

First name: 
István
Initials: 
I.
Surname: 
Erdödi
Year of birth: 
1924
Birthplace: 
Budapest (Hungary)
Country of birth: 
France
Working period: 
1953
CV: 

István Erdödi is born in Budapest (Hungary) in 1924 in a family of intellectuals and artists. He founded a publishing house called "Parnassus" at the age of 21 years and in parallel he studied sculpture. At the age of 29 he started to experiment with ceramics. He get in touch with Professor Mor Korach, former employee of Ballardini in Faenza. At the same time, he is getting to learn the beauty of Oriental art and he becomes interested in the chemistry of the glazes. In 1956 he created glazes at low temperature with the appearance of precious stones. Since 1962 he governed the different glazes, such as celadon, sang-de-boeuf, peach skin, always fired in a reduction kiln. Erdödi is the inventor of the so-called Sang d'Or, a glaze composed of a ox-blood glaze and pure gold as a dye. His first exhibition is in Budapest in 1962 and in Faenza in 1964. He moved to Paris in 1965. His pieces in grès-stoneware are all referred to as household ceramics. Erdödi ownes a small showroom on the third floor in the building 126 Rue du Bac, 75006 Paris. Here he receives guests on a somewhat authoritatively way, dressed in a neat white lab coat, explaining his way of working and showing his last pieces. His studio and kilns, how interesting also for the visitor, are not shown. The artist continues also careful with relevant, technical information. He reduces in an electric kiln by entering of combustible material, which as known can be naphthalene, wood chips and an additional gas flame, or a reduction in the glaze itself, by adding of around 1% very fine silicium-carbide or even better 1% metalistic silicium in the recipe. He claims to be the inventor of the red gold enamel and of the grove skin crackle. Its products are extremely expensive and the smaller pieces come in precious made lined casettes. He received a ceramic mention at the 12th Grand Prix international contemporary art in Monaco. 

(This information is mainly recorded as a eyewitness report by a group of Dutch ceramists who had visited the artist in 1983).

Pictures: István Erdödi, Sang d'Or (page in La revue de la Céramique et du Verre no. 49, 1989 - picture supplied by Leo Meijs); vase with casette (coll. Capriolus); vase collection Fina Gomez (picture supplied by Leo Meijs); artist stamp.

Bibliography: 
  • Collection Fina Gomez, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 1981.
  • Brouillard, Florence, 'István Erdödi' in: La Revue de la Céramique et du Verre N° 49, novembre decembre 1989.