KAWAI KANJIRŌ (1890-1966)

Kawai Kanjirō was a -based potter working within the folk traditions of Japanese and Korean ceramics. He was a long-time friend of Hamada, Yanagi, and Leach with whom he co-founded the Folk Art Association in 1926. Although in Japan Kawai Kanjirō is just as celebrated as Hamada Shōji and Kitaōji Rosanjin, he is relatively neglected in the West. Unlike his rivals, Kawai refused all official honors, such as the designation of “Living National Treasures,” and did not travel to the West. By the mid-1930s, Kawai developed a slab-molding technique to create beveled bowls and tiered boxes. The forms of his later pieces became multifaceted and more sculptural. As a master of the glaze technique, Kawai developed new decorative styles in the 1960s, employing splotches of bright colors. His slab-molded boxes with lids, as well as vases, are especially admired. Kawai often decorated his works with bold, semiabstract blossom motifs, which he painted freely in under-glaze cobalt blue, iron brown, and copper red.

1890 Born in Yasugi, but spent most of his adult life in Kyoto 1910 Graduated from Matsue Junior High School 1911 Impressed by an exhibition of Barnard Leach, introduced himself to Leach 1914 Graduated from Industrial High School (currently Tokyo Industrial University) with Itaya Hazan, came to know fellow student Hamada Shōji, started to work for Kyoto City Ceramic Laboratory 1917 Resigned from Laboratory and began research on 10,000 glaze tests with Shimizu Rokubei 1919 With Hamada, traveled to Korea and Manchuria, collecting and studying ceramics and folk art 1920 Built his own kiln and established a workshop at Gojozaka, Kyoto 1926 Visited the monasteries on Mt. Koya. Became founding member of Japan Folk Art Association with Hamada Shoji, Yanagi Muneyoshi, and Tomomoto Kenkichi 1931 Helped found start art magazine, "Kōgei" Instructed craftsmen with Yanagi in Matsue 1936-37 With Hamada and Yanagi, traveled throughout Korea 1937 Became director of Japan Craft Museum, Tokyo 1942-45 Stopped potting to concentrate on writing After 1945 Began creating non-functional plaques and sculptures 1960s Developed new decorative styles focusing on splotches of red and orange with an abstract expressionist flavor

Awards:

1917 5th Nōten Exhibition Prize 1937 Grand Prize, World Exposition, Paris 1956 Grand Prize, Milan Triennale

Solo Exhibitions:

1921 1st Creative Ceramic Exhibition, Takashimaya Department Store Gallery, Osaka and Tokyo 1929 6th New Works Exhibition

JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE FINE ART 39 EAST 78TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10075 Phone: 212.799.4021 Fax: 212.721.5148 www.mirviss.com 1930 Retrospective exhibitions of his 10-year career in ceramics 1931 Solo exhibition in his hometown, Matsue 1940 Anniversary exhibitions of his 20-year career in ceramics 1950 Memorial exhibition for his 60th Year Celebration, Tokyo Craft Museum, Tokyo and other locations 1957 Anniversary exhibition for his 40-year for his career in ceramic, Tokyo and Osaka Held solo exhibitions at various locations

Group Exhibitions:

1915 3rd Nōten Exhibition (also in '17) 1929 Japanese Crafts Exhibition with Yanagi, Kyoto Teiten Exhibition

Posthumous Exhibitions:

1984 KAWAI KANJIRO – Master of Modern Japanese Ceramics, Crafts Gallery, The National , Tokyo 1999 Kawai Kanjiro Retrospective, Japan Folk Art Museum, Tokyo 2003 Kawai Kanjiro - Bifubifuji, Daimaru Shinsaibashi Art Gallery, Osaka (also in ‘04) 2004 Mingei of Japan, San Diego – Sister City Society, San Diego and Modern Japanese Ceramics, Arthur M. Scakler Gallery, DC 2005 Kawai Kanjiro - 40 Years after death, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Tokyo 2006 Retrospective at Wakō Museum and Kanō Museum, Yasugi city, Shimane prefecture 2008 Izumi Gallery, Osaka 2011 Kawai Kanjiro, Takashimaya Gallery 2013 Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo. Contemporary Japanese Ceramics and Bamboo Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2013-2014 Mingei: Are You Here?, Pace Gallery, London 2014 The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection: Japanese Ceramics for the Twenty-first Century, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore The Tokyo Connection, Newcastle Art Gallery

Public Collections:

Adachi Museum, Shimane Art Institute of Chicago Brooklyn Museum Folk Art Museum of Tokyo Kawai Kanjiro House Museum, Kyoto National Gallery of Victoria, Australia National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto San Diego Museum of Art Victoria and Albert Museum, London

References:

JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE FINE ART 39 EAST 78TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10075 Phone: 212.799.4021 Fax: 212.721.5148 www.mirviss.com Baekeland, Frederick. Modern Japanese Ceramics in American Collections. New York: Japan Society, 1993, pp.142-144.

“Kawai Kanjiro: The Vitality of Life, 120th Anniversary of Kawai Kanjiro’s Birth.” Honoho Geijutsu, no. 102 (2010) pp. 10-59.

KAWAI KANJIRO: The Kawakatsu Collection in The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. Kyoto: Toho Shuppan, 2005.

KAWAI KANJIRO – Master of Modern Japanese Ceramics. Tokyo: Crafts Gallery, The National Museum of Modern Art, 1986. Exhibition Catalogue.

KAWAI KANJIRO: Kawai Kanjiro – Bifubifuji. Osaka: Daimaru Shinsaibashi Art Gallery, 2003. Exhibition Catalogue.

Kawai Kanjiro - 40 Years After Death. Tokyo: Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, 2005. Exhibition Catalogue.

“Kogei to Modanisumu (Craft and Modernism).” Antiques Fun, vol. 24 (2003) pp. 38-51.

Mintz, Robert and Joan Mirviss with Betsy Feinberg. The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection: Japanese Ceramics for the Twenty-first Century. Exhibition Catalogue. Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum, 2014, p. 83.

Todate, Kazuko. Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics and Bamboo Art Boston: MFA Publications: Museum of Fine Arts, 2013. Exhibition Catalogue.

Wege zur Japanischen Keramik: Tradition in der Gegenwart. Berlin: Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst zu, 2005.

JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE FINE ART 39 EAST 78TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10075 Phone: 212.799.4021 Fax: 212.721.5148 www.mirviss.com