Timeless Elegance in Japanese Art

Timeless Elegance in Japanese Art Celebrating 40 Years!

JOAN B MIRVISS LT D

Timeless Elegance in Japanese Art Celebrating 40 Years!

Joan B Mirviss LTD 39 East 78th Street New York, NY 10075

What

a

Beautiful Life

Joan B Mirviss January 2017

A three-year stay in Paris from 1978 to 1981, where my husband Bob worked at his

law firm’s office, led to the serendipitous acquisition in rural France of a collection of nearly four hundred surimono. This was truly a life-changing event: it precipitated an enduring passion for this delicate, complicated, and rare genre of Japanese print, leading to several exhibitions and books, all

Elaine Scarry writes in On Beauty and Being Just that beauty is life saving, life creating,

written together with the brilliant John T. Carpenter, currently the Curator of Japanese Art at the

and life altering. It would be melodramatic to claim that beauty has saved my life, but for sure the

Metropolitan Museum of Art. It has been a special delight to help several collectors build important

beauty that I have seen, touched and shared with others in my forty-year career has altered my life

surimono collections that have been published and ultimately pledged to U.S. museums. Additionally,

and created for me a life that I could not have lived otherwise. Whatever success I have had the

I have been honored to sell or place significant collections of Japanese art, most notably that of

good fortune to achieve has been built on the support, guidance, and friendship of others. They have

Robert O. Muller.

opened doors for me, pointed out paths to follow, and shared their wisdom and worlds with me. I am forever grateful to them and this publication is a meager but heartfelt thank you for all they have

done for me.

dealer of contemporary Japanese ceramics, a love that began as an undergraduate when I was

While I continue my commitment to Japanese prints and paintings, I am best known as a

searching for a summer-long program in Japan. I was initially disappointed that the only available

My career like life itself has been built brick by brick, experience by experience, some

option was a program on ceramics, but how lucky I turned out to be. My dissatisfaction soon turned

intentional, much providential, all formative in ways that now looking back I can better appreciate. I

to love: I traveled throughout the archipelago, visiting artists studios and seeing first hand works that

was fortunate to be born to chemist-parents who believed in advanced education and taught their

no summer in a library could have offered. It was total immersion and instant and enduring love. It was

daughter that she could accomplish anything she put her mind to. I fell in love with all things Japanese

a love enriched in my early years as a dealer by my great friend and colleague Fred Baekeland, who

at an early age: I remember at age eight watching religiously after school a weekly public television

broadened my knowledge and deepened my interest. In 1984 it was the groundbreaking Smithsonian

show on how to create Asian-style ink paintings. But the story of my career in Japanese art began in

show Japan Ceramics Today that finally cemented my determination to enter this field as a dealer.

earnest at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Although there were no official courses in Asian art, I

Living in Paris I had met Kusaka Chieko, an expert in ancient Chinese art, who introduced me to the

enrolled in a seminar on Japanese prints led by a professor of classical art and an avid ukiyo-e collector,

wealthy patroness of that exhibition, Kikuchi Tomo, and her gallery director, Koike Kimiyo. They in turn

and later participated in the influential museum training and connoisseurship program offered by what

introduced me to many of the artists who my gallery now represents, starting in 1984 with Kawase

is now the Chazen Museum of Art. It has been a special joy to actively maintain my relationship with

Shinobu. Both women have recently passed away, but my gratitude to them is everlasting.

the Chazen, the University, and its graduate students.

The International Asian Art Fair, which was established in 1996 and permitted the display

In the graduate program on Japanese art history at Columbia University, I had the good

of contemporary art, became the ideal venue for solo shows by prominent clay artists. Showing the

fortune to study under the disciplined guidance of my sensei, Miyeko Murase. First my sensei, later

work of these artists became the core of my professional life, and I began searching for ceramics,

my client and friend and always a pivotal supporter, she taught me the importance of working with

both modern and contemporary, to offer to an expanding and enthusiastic clientele. The three years

actual works of art as well as giving me the tools to authenticate and evaluate them. It was at

Bob and I lived in Japan from 1998 to 2001 allowed for more leisurely and extensive travels to artists’

Columbia that I met Mee-Seen Loong, a graduate student in Chinese art, who has been a life-long

studios and the pursuit of younger, undiscovered talents. During my stay I met Kuroda Kôji, a third-

anchor as both friend and colleague and, not incidentally, the matchmaker who introduced me to my

generation dealer with a remarkably fine eye. He became a valued colleague, and we have collaborated

future husband, Bob Levine.

at my gallery on several influential exhibitions of modern Japanese ceramics, proving once again that Japan is all about relationships. Contacts that I have made over four decades have blossomed into

A Master’s degree with a focus on painting and ukiyo-e in hand, and after a brief stint working

rewarding relationships and sincere friendships that now extend over multiple generations.

for Ronin Gallery, I took the leap and established my own business in February 1977. I packed my bags and took to the road, exhibiting at art and antiques fairs around the country. In the forty

years since, I have exhibited at over one hundred fairs (thirty-six times at the Winter Antiques Show

rooms at the University of Wisconsin and Columbia, I had no idea where life’s path would take me. Truly,

alone) throughout the U.S. Concentrating on prints and paintings, I was inevitably the sole dealer in

“paths are made by walking,” and I have had the good fortune to walk alongside supportive parents,

Japanese art. Through these fairs, I made many invaluable contacts for both selling and buying and

friends, husband, brilliant curators, scholars, collectors, artists, and dealers. Whatever success I have

met collectors and curators whose collections I was able to study and who became good clients and

achieved could not have happened without them and the untiring and enthusiastic staff who pack,

friends. Many of these relationships continue to this day and have led to numerous collaborations on

mail, design, install, keep the accounts, and do all that it takes to keep a business going. Each and

museum exhibitions and publications.

every one has allowed me to live amidst beauty for forty years and for that I am forever grateful.

Sitting in front of that black-and-white television show or even in the lecture halls and seminar

3

This exhibition and publication are comprised of four categories: paintings, prints, work by seminal modern ceramic artists, and contemporary clay art. Each living artist who has honored me with at least one solo show, has contributed one significant work that he or she chose specifically for this occasion; they represent the flowering of my relationships with the best ceramic artists in Japan. The modern ceramic vessels, fine paintings, and prints were selected and put aside for this occasion, and each work was acquired from trusted colleagues with whom I have worked for decades.

Japanese names appear in the traditional manner with family name first. For individuals who reside outside of Japan, names are presented in the Western style. Dimensions are in order of height, width and, where relevant, depth.

KITAÔJI ROSANJIN (1883-1959) Natural ash-glazed Shigaraki vessel with torn, flaring mouth 1951 Glazed stoneware 7 5/8 x 6 7/8 x 7 inches Published Kitaôji Rosanjin Exhibition. Kyoto: Kyoto Shimbun, 1988, pl. 226.

5

SHIMAOKA TATSUZĂ” (1919-2007) Rope-impressed large circular platter with dark iron-oxide glaze and green and creamy white ladle-poured glazes ca. 1988 Glazed stoneware

HAMADA SHÔJI (1894-1978)

5 7/8 x 22 3/8 inches

Large turquoise-green-glazed bowl with ladle-poured white-glaze ca. 1955 Glazed stoneware 6 x 19 7/8 x 20 3/8 inches

7

KAWAI KANJIRร (1890-1966) Rare, small tri-colored (sanรงai) vessel with carved designs of a gourd and a grasshopper ca. 1922 Glazed stoneware 4 x 3 3/4 inches

OKABE MINEO (1919-1990) Blue craquelure kinuta (fulling block-shaped) celadon vase ca. 1969 Glazed stoneware 10 1/4 x 7 1/8 inches

9

YAMAMOTO BAIITSU (1783-1856) Hawk on a pine tree above a waterwall Signed Baiitsu and sealed Baika Itsujin Mid-1840s Ink on silk; hanging scroll 62 1/5 x 27 1/4 inches (exclusive of mount)

SHIBATA ZESHIN (1807-1891)

Shôki, Demon queller with auspicious treasures in green and gold Signed Tairyûkyo Zeshin and sealed Shin 1886 Inscribed hinoe inu hachijû okina; Year of the Dog at age 80 as an old man Ink on paper with painted silk, hanging-scroll mount by the artist 40 x 15 1/4 inches (66 1/2 x 20 1/2 with painted mount) Published Tokyo kokuritsu hakubutsukan shozô bakumatsu Meijiki shashin

shiryô mokuroku, vol 3. Tokyo: Kokusho Kankôkai, 2002, pl. 9410, p. 244.

11

MATSUI KÔSEI (1927-2003)

KAMODA SHÔJI (1933-1983)

Tsuijimon hôko mei "Senshun”; Slip-painted Square Vessel titled "Early Spring"

Vessel with undulating glazed bands and combed, unglazed surface

1983

1976

Stoneware with marbleized colored clay

Glazed stoneware

16 x 13 x 6 1/4 inches

10 3/8 x 5 1/2 inches Published Works of Shoji Kamoda. Tokyo: Kodansha, 2005, p. 293.

13

SUZUKI HARUNOBU (1725-1770)

Tokei no banshô; Evening Bell of Clock Zashiki hakkei; Eight Views of the Parlor ca. 1766

Chûban tate-e Second state without signature (comparable to Spaulding, MFAB)

KAMODA SHÔJI (1933-1983) Red on creamy-white slip-glazed standing vessel 1975 Glazed stoneware 7 x 5 inches

15

YAGI KAZUO (1918-1979)

KONDO TAKAHIRO (b. 1958)

Slightly twisting, flattened mold-cast sculptural vessel created in two

Standing zig-zag monolith with blue-green glaze and silver mist

sections with white slip inlays outlining the form of a woman’s torso

overglaze and central glass section

ca. 1963-65

2015

Stoneware with white inlays

Glazed porcelain, silver mist overglaze, cast glass

17 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 7 inches

and stainless steel base 43 x 6 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches

17

HASHIMOTO GAHÔ (1835-1908) Setting sun paired with pine and bamboo with a rising full moon ca. 1903 Signed Gahô and sealed Kokkisai Ink and slight color on gold leaf Pair of six-panel folding screens 67 1/4 x 146 inches (each screen) Published Gahô shû (Collected Works of Gahô), Volume V. Zauhô kankô kai, 1934.

19

KAKUREZAKI RYÛICHI (b. 1950) Two-color, Bizen vessel with protruding feet and upswept mouth 2014 Unglazed, wood-fired Bizen stoneware 15 3/4 x 7 x 6 5/8 inches SUZUKI OSAMU (b. 1934) Large folded triple-slab, sculptural vessel with shino glazing ca. 1985 Glazed stoneware 22 1/4 x 19 3/4 x 18 inches

21

YASHIMA GAKUTEI (1786-1868) Three crabs on the shore ca. 1827 Signed Gakutei

Poets are Bunbunsha Kanikomaru (1780-1837), founder of the Katsushikaren poetry group, KAWASE SHINOBU (b. 1950)

and celebrated actor, Ichikawa Danjûrô VII (1791-1859).

Kingfisher celadon (red type) teabowl on stand

Shikishiban surimono

2015 Glazed porcelaineous stoneware 2 3/4 x 4 5/8 inches (teabowl); 1 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches (stand)

23

OGAWA MACHIKO (b. 1946) Rectangular, rock-shaped, three-legged sculpture with exposed iron area and translucent crystalized glass 2016 Multi-fired, unglazed porcelain with glass 11 x 12 1/2 x 7 inches KATSUMATA CHIEKO (b. 1950) Large red and green sculpture titled "Akoda: Pumpkin" 2016 Stoneware with matte glazes 16 1/4 x 15 3/4 x 14 7/8 inches

25

left KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760-1849)

Kôshû Kajikazawa; Kajikazawa in Kai Province Fugaku sanjûrokkei; Thirty-six Views of Fuji ca. 1831 Signed zen Hokusai Iitsu hitsu Publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijûdô)

Ôban yoko-e

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760-1849) Travelers arriving at the Echizen-ya teahouse paired with text announcing a commencement event by the music master Niya Dayû of the Tokiwazu School 1804, 7th month Signed Gakyôjin Hokusai ga Henri Vever Collection Long surimono (nagaban)

27

KITAMURA JUNKO (b. 1956) Double-lobed vessel with punched patterning titled "Vessel 14-N" 2014 Stoneware with black slip, inlaid with white slip 20 3/4 x 9 1/8 x 9 1/8 inches

AKIYAMA YÔ (b. 1953) Sculpture titled “Untitled MV-155” 2015 Unglazed stoneware with silver glazing 9 5/8 x 22 3/8 x 15 inches Published and exhibited Yo Akiyama: Towards the Sea of Arche.

Tokyo: Musée Tomo, 2016.

29

KANETA MASANAO (b. 1953) Mountain-like Hagi and ash-glazed sculptural vessel 2015 Glazed stoneware 12 5/8 x 15 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches NISHIHATA TADASHI (b. 1948) Large rounded triangular Tamba vessel with faceted diagonally carved bands 2016 Glazed stoneware 20 3/4 x 20 x 19 inches

31

AJIKI HIRO (b. 1948) Checkered basara teabowl titled JikĂ´; "Reflection of Affection" 2016 Glazed stoneware with gold leaf over red underglaze 4 1/4 x 5 x 4 1/2 inches

OKABE MINEO (1919-1990) Rice-colored (beishoku), dripping, craquelure celadon bowl ca. 1970 Glazed stoneware with original box 3 3/4 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches

33

KITAÔJI ROSANJIN (1883-1959) Abalone-shell-shaped set of six Oribe-glazed dishes Late 1930s Glazed stoneware NAKAMURA HÔCHÛ (d. 1819)

6 3/4 x 5 x 2 inches (each)

Six Immortal Poets Signed Sei sei Kôrin hatsuyô Hôchû kore utsusu (Painted by Hôchû, descendant of Ogata Kôrin) ca. 1810 Ink and color on silk; hanging scroll 41 3/8 x 14 5/8 in. (exclusive of mount)

35

KISHI EIKO (b. 1948)

Saiseki zôgan shinshô wo tsumu; Compellation of Recollected Images 2015 Shigaraki stoneware sculpture with colored-clay chamotte inlays 26 3/8 x 26 3/8 x 4 inches

YOSHIKAWA MASAMICHI (b.1946) Rectangular, hand-built sculpture titled Kayô; "Gorgeous Effigy" 2016 Bluish white-glazed porcelain 11 5/8 x 24 x 8 inches

37

SAKIYAMA TAKAYUKI (b.1958) Swirling vessel with carved linear surface titled ChĂ´to; "Listening to the Waves" 2016 Stoneware with sand glaze 14 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches

FUTAMURA YOSHIMI (b. 1959) Collapsed round sculpture coated with cracked porcelain slip titled "Black Hole 2016 - L1" 2016 Stoneware and porcelain slip 14 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 13 inches

39

TAKEGOSHI JUN (b. 1948)

MORINO TAIMEI (b. 1934)

Rectangular incense burner decorated with frolicking

KokushĂť jĂ´mon mimitsuki kabin; Black over Rust, Linear-patterned Eared Vase titled "WORK 16-1"

yellow and blue mythological kirin

2016

2016

Glazed stoneware

Porcelain with polychrome kutani enamel glazes

11 1/8 x 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches

16 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches

41

KOIKE SHÔKO (b. 1943) Standing, shell-inspired vessel with shiny white matching cover 1995 Glazed stoneware and porcelain cover 18 1/2 x 23 x 19 1/4 inches

MIHARA KEN (b. 1958) Large, elliptical, multi-fired vessel titled Kigen; "Origin" 2006 Stoneware with natural ash glaze 19 x 20 7/8 x 14 3/8 inches Published Mihara Ken: The Power of Chance. "Ceramics: Art & Perception," no. 73, September 2008, p. 85.

43

HOSHINO KAYOKO (b. 1949)

Yakishime jômon utsuwa obuje; Unglazed Linear-patterned Vessel Objet d’art 2016 Unglazed stoneware 10 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 17 1/2 inches

FUJINO SACHIKO (b. 1950) Flower-inspired gray and white matte-glazed sculpture 2016 Stoneware with sprayed matte glazing 16 1/2 x 17 3/4 x 14 1/2 inches

FUJIKASA SATOKO (b. 1980) Standing hand-built sculpture titled Fรปi; "Wind Direction" 2016 Unglazed stoneware 23 1/2 x 18 x 9 inches

UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)

Minowa, Kanasugi, Mikawashima Edo meisho hyakkei; 100 Famous Views of Edo 1857, 5th Month Signed Hiroshige ga

ร ban tate-e

47

NAKAMURA TAKUO (b. 1945) Two undulating panels forming a deconstructed vessel, decorated with

kutani-glazed, rinpa patterning inspired by The Tale of Ise Utsuwa ni narukoto wo yameta utsuwa; Vessel that is not a Vessel 2016 Glazed stoneware

TAKEUCHI SEIHÔ (1864-1942)

10 5/8 x 16 7/8 x 9 1/4 inches; 10 3/4 x 18 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches

Quarter moon rising on a cloudy night Signed Seihô and sealed Seihô; Kôkan no in 1902 Ink and light color on silk; hanging scroll 48 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches (exclusive of mount)

49

With deepest thanks to the following...

Fred + Joan Baekeland

• Steve Beimel • H Berès Family Ajiki

Hiro

•

Akiyama

Yô

•

Asano

Shûgo

• •

Fujikasa

Satoko

•

Fujimura

Tadanori

•

Fujino

Sachiko

Yasuko

Betchaku

•

Monika

Bincsik

• • Giovanni Bottero • Claudia Brown • Rosina Buckland

Fukami Sueharu • Fukumoto Fuku • Futamura Yoshimi • Hanazoto Mari • •

David

+

Ken

Caplan

•

John

Carpenter

•

Louise

Cort

Hara Hidenori Family • Hayashi Daisuke • Hayashiya Seizô • Hoshino Kayoko + Satoru • • Andria Derstine Ishizaki

Yasuyuki

Kaneta

Masanao

•

Itô

Masaaki

•

Kakurezaki

Ryûichi

•

Kandori

Gallery

• Shinichi Doi • Joe Earle • Miho Feng • Barbara Ford

• • Hollis Goodall • Richard Goodbody • Damon Graham • Jeffrey Hantover

•

Katô

Wakako

•

Katsumata

Chieko

•

Kawasaki

Tetsu

Family

• •

Brian

+

Anna

Haughton

•

Maxwell

Hearn

•

Nadine

(Welch)

Heyman

Sarah

Kershaw

Kawase Shinobu • Kikuchi Tomo Family • Kishi Eiko • Kitamura Junko • Koike Shôko • •

Rie

Homura

•

Nami

Hoppin

•

Rie

(Nakano)

Ichimura

•

Kondo Takahiro Family • Kochukyo • Kosôshi Family • Kuroda Kôji • Kusaka Chieko • • Jiyoung Koo • Richard Kruml • Gary Levine • Mee-Seen Loong • Priscilla Marban Marui Kenzaburô Family • Mihara Ken • Miura Hiroko • Miyashita Hideko • Mizutani Family • • Julia Meech • Robert Mintz • Laura Mueller • Miyeko Murase • Ruta Noreika Morino Taimei • Murata Shirô • Nagano Masaharu • Nagata Seiji • Nakamachi Keiko • •

Halsey

+

Alice

North

•

Noriko

Ozawa

•

Russell

Panczenko

•

Ellen

Peifer

Nakamura Etsuji • Nakamura Takuo • Nakamura Yukio • Nishi Kuniko • Nishi Maya • • Amy Poster • Tomoko Sakomura • Emily Sano • Jeff Shapiro • Christine Shimizu Nishihata Tadashi • Ogawa Machiko • Ôhara Noriko • Sakiyama Takayuki • •

Jason

•

Miwako

Steuber

•

Tezuka

•

Catherine

Sweeney-Singer

•

Mari

Takamatsu

•

Margaret

Tao

Shibunkaku • Sudô Reiko • Takegoshi Jun • Uragami Mitsuru • Yagi Family • Allison

Tolman

•

Akie

Topal

•

James

Ulak

•

Ann

Wadsworth

Miyako

Yoshinaga

Yanagi Takashi Family • Yasukôchi Mami • Yokobori Satoshi •

Matthew

Welch

•

Robert

Yellin

•

Akemi

Yoneyama

•

51

Front Cover Inside Covers

HASHIMOTO GAHÔ (p. 18-19) KAMODA SHÔJI (p. 13) KITAMURA JUNKO (p. 28) MATSUI KÔSEI (p. 12) NAKAMURA HÔCHÛ (p. 34)

Back Cover

KAWAI KANJIRÔ (p. 9) OKABE MINEO (p. 32) AJIKI HIRO (p. 33)

Published in conjunction with the exhibition “Timeless Elegance in Japanese Art: Celebrating 40 Years!,” at Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York from March 9 - April 14, 2017 Photography: Richard Goodbody Catalogue Design: Damon Graham Printer: Phoenix Lithographing Corp. © 2017 Joan B Mirviss LTD

JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE ART Antique - Contemporary 39 East 78th Street, 4th Floor | New York NY 10075 Telephone 212 799 4021 | www.mirviss.com