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The Noble & Modern Object Vase: Yasuhara Yoshiaki's Ceramic Art by Kazuko Todate
Kazuko Todate, Professor, Faculty of Art and Design Center of Liberal Arts, Tama Art University
Introduction
While there are many ceramic artists in Japan who have come from traditional domestic ceramic production areas, there are also those who come from non-Japanese ceramic production areas such as Tokyo, who have developed an interest in ceramics and become ceramic artists by exhibiting their work in group exhibitions and public competitions. Yasuhara Yoshiaki 安原喜明 (1906-1980) is one of the latter types of ceramic artists. In addition, Yasuhara is often referred to by the common name "Yasuhara Kimei," today, however, the correct name is Yasuhara Yoshiaki.
I introduced Yasuhara as a Nitten-affiliated artist with solid technique, abundant plasticity, and creativity in the exhibition "Nihon Togei 100 nen no Seika 日本陶芸100年の精華 (The Quintessence of Modern Japanese Ceramics" (2006), which I organized when I was chief curator at the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, and wrote an article in the catalog entitled "A Century of Modern Japanese Ceramics: The Meaning of "Modernity" in the History of Japanese Ceramics".
After I began teaching ceramic history as a professor at Tama Art University, I pointed out the advanced formative qualities of Yasuhara's works in the ceramic journal Honoo-Geijutsu 炎芸術 (2021) (Note 1).
However, the only solo exhibition of Yasuhara's work to date has been the 1993 exhibition " Yasuhara Yoshiaki, Poet of the Soil" at the Meguro Museum of Art, which was held after his death. It is difficult to say that the achievements of Yasuhara, an important artist in the history of Japanese ceramics, have been sufficiently examined.
Therefore, it is significant that Yasuhara's work has been introduced in New York in a comprehensive manner and cataloged. In this article, I will describe Yasuhara's position as an artist in the history of ceramics and the formative qualities of his works from the perspective of my specialty, the history of modern and contemporary ceramics, especially post-war ceramic trends.
Yasuhara Yoshiaki's Entry into the World of Ceramic Art: The Significance of Studying Under Miyagawa Kozan II and Itaya Hazan
Yasuhara Yoshiaki was born in Tokyo in 1906. His father was a sailor on a foreign route. Although he was not physically strong, he loved art from an early age and learned drawing and painting in his teens.
In 1924, at his father's urging, he studied pottery making techniques under Miyagawa Kozan II 二代宮川香山 (1842-1916) in Yokohama, and around 1927, he studied under Itaya Hazan 板谷波山 (1872-1963), learning how to be an individual ceramic artist.
It is important to note that Yasuhara learned from both a master craftsman and pioneer of ceramic artist at the start of his pottery career. Miyagawa Kozan II inherited the Makazu kiln, which had been in operation since the Meiji period (1868-1912), and was the master of a large pottery workshop with over 100 craftsmen, and was well versed in various ceramic techniques. On the other hand, Itaya Hazan, like Tomimoto Kenkichi 富本憲吉 (1886-1963) and Kusube Yaichi 楠部彌弌 (1897-1984), was a pioneer of individual ceramic artists in the 20th century, who studied "creativity" at art school and established himself as an artist by exhibiting his works at exhibitions.
This means that Yasuhara was able to learn from the most talented ceramic artists of his time the necessary requirements for a ceramic artist: a broad range of traditional ceramic techniques and authorship (creativity). Yasuhara's later work in an extremely wide range of techniques, including pottery, porcelain, and stoneware (especially glazed, unglazed, inlaid, and painted porcelain), and the development of his own expression using these techniques, were based on the knowledge and teachings he had learned from Kozan and Hazan from the beginning of his pottery making career
Encounter with Teshigawara Sofu in the mid-1930s
Until the early 1930s, Yasuhara's works were mainly glazed vessels with carved patterns. The influence of this period can be seen in the figurative carved patterns, which were inherited from Hazan, or the Art Deco style and Joan Miro style painted porcelain, "Vase with White Porcelain Underglaze Blue and White Porcelain (gosu design 呉須)" (1933), etc. His first work to be accepted for the Shin-Bunten Exhibition 新文展 in 1930 was an open-worked, glazed circular ceramic plate embedded in a door.
In the mid-1930s, Yasuhara had another important encounter, following Kozan and Hazan. This person was Teshigawara Sofu 勅使河原蒼風 (1900-1979), the founder of the Sogetsu school of ikebana. Teshigawara probably came to know Yasuhara at his first solo exhibition at Shiseido gallery in 1934 (Note 2).
Tea masters and flower arrangement artists are the natural companions for ceramic artists in the course of their work. In the early modern period, tea masters mainly instructed the potters, and masterpieces of tea ceramics were produced. Even today, ceramic artists are still involved in tea ceremony ceramics, devising "expressions" in the limited sizes of tea bowls and water jars. Tea bowls are also much more expensive than rice bowls, so ceramic artists can easily make a living.
On the other hand, flower vases are also a typical item for which ceramic artists receive orders.
In the mid-twentieth century, the world of ikebana has provided ceramic artists with even greater formative inspiration than the tea ceremony. For example, the creative provocations of the flower arrangement artists, who were inspired by the avant-garde trends of Western art, were also behind the postwar efforts of the Shiko-kai 四耕会 artists to create ceramic objects. Among the several schools in Japan, Misho 未生流, Ohara 小原流, and Sogetsu 草月流 are said to be the three major schools. Kansai ceramic artists including Kyoto such as Hayashi Yasuo 林康夫 are more closely associated with the Misho school, while Kanto artists including Tokyo such as Yasuhara tend to associate more with the Sogetsu school of flower arrangers.
Around 1937, Yasuhara began creating vases for Teshigawara Sofu. At that time, Teshigawara was exploring ikebana art as a creative new form and space, rather than formalized ikebana. Radical ikebana artists like Teshigahara were quick to learn about the objects of the Surrealists and Dadaists in Western art from magazines of the time, and began using terms such as "obuje オブジェ (objet d'art)" and "obuje kaki オブジェ花器 (vase as art object)“. Ceramic artists who had been in contact with flower arrangement artists also began to produce vases with a different formative and creative style. Yasuhara, who had been in contact with Teshigawara, also began to expand his expression considerably from the late 1930s onward.
Techniques that characterize Yasuhara's work: Grayish-Blue Sekki with White Clay Inlay & Unglazed Stoneware
One of Yasuhara's best-known series is what he called "Sekki 炻器 (Stoneware)”. Molded in grayish-blue clay mixed with pigments, the surface is carved with a unique pattern, then filled in that carved line with white clay and fired at high temperatures. The vessels look modern and solid, but at the same time, they have a dignified and stately atmosphere, as if they were excavated from some archaeological site.
Yasuhara began working on the grayish-blue sekki series around 1935, and in 1939, his "Grayish-blue Sekki Covered Box" won a special prize at the 3rd Shin-bunten 新文展 Exhibition. The "Grayish-blue Sekki" series includes many rounded concentric circle jars and arken jars, but also includes a figurative object called "Grayish-blue Sekki Object, Flower" (1938), which is one of his very early works.
In parallel with grayish-blue Sekki works, the unglazed stoneware (Yakisihime) technique began to appear around 1950. These shapes include works composed of tubular forms and a figurative vase with a sense of movement, " Unglazed Stoneware Flower Vase " (ca. 1953, collection of Sogetsu Museum of Art).
In the latter half of his career as an artist, Yasuhara focused mainly on "grayish-blue sekki," exploring the textures of clay in his own unique way, establishing his own ceramic world and gaining an important position in the ceramic art world as a juror and councilor at Nitten 日展.
In addition, Yasuhara's vases are sometimes reminiscent of "ships" or "harbors" in shape. This may be due to the fact that his father was a sailor.
When we look at the sides of the vessels, we often see decorative wavy shapes that fall between the "ears" and the "handles" of the vessels. Yasuhara's unique sense of form can be seen in these parts of the works as well.
Yasuhara's Tube-Shaped Compositions: and their Possible Influence on Yagi Kazuo's First Objects
Notable among Yasuhara's works are a series of tubular compositions produced in the 1950s. The works in this New York exhibition include "Unglazed Stoneware Flower Vase" (ca. 1950), and " Unglazed Stoneware Flower Vase: Bird" (ca. 1950). The most representative example, "Unglazed Stoneware Flower Vase: Port," is in the collection of the National Crafts Museum in Kanazawa, Japan.
Although each of these works by Yasuhara is a functional "flower vase," as the title suggests, the overall impression is that of an object. Yasuhara's tube-shaped composition series may have influenced Yagi Kazuo 八木 一夫 (1918-1979)'s first objects.
Yagi exhibited a series of tube-shaped works, including the famous "Mr. Zamza's Walk" (1954) at his solo exhibition at Form Gallery in Tokyo in December 1954, while Kumakura Junkichi 熊倉順吉 (1920-1985), a fellow member of Sodeisha, also exhibited tube-shaped compositions at the same Form Gallery in October 1954, two months earlier than Yagi. It is highly possible that Yagi saw Kumakura's solo exhibition and that Yagi was influenced by Kumakura's tube-shaped works. Moreover, it is actually possible that Yagi saw Yasuhara's tubular work around 1950, which is even a few years earlier than Kumakura's. This is because Yagi's wife, fiber artist Takagi Toshiko 高木敏子 (1924-1987), exhibited at Nitten, and Yagi was in close contact with ceramic artists at Nitten in order to support his wife. At the time, Yasuhara was one of the leading artists at Nitten.
Many of Yasuhara's works around 1950 are vase works made with tube-shaped compositions, and the works that Yagi exhibited at his solo show at Form Gallery in 1954 were also tube works. The two artists' works are at least similar in terms of form, and it is possible that Yasuhara's works influenced Yagi's works.
Conclusion: Yasuhara Yoshiaki's concept of "object vase"
Yasuhara's work in the form of tube compositions has also been extended, on rare occasions, to purely abstract objects that are not vases, such as in his "Garden Decoration'' (1958). The "tube," however, is a formative element that allows flowers to be inserted. No matter how varied and object-like Yasuhara's works are in form, the word "hanasashi (flower vase)" frequently appears in their titles.
Perhaps Yasuhara was always consciously trying to make room for "flowers" in his own works. This is the underlying attitude of Yasuhara, who was a close friend of Teshigawara and the Sogetsu School. Yasuhara's attitude of pursuing new ceramic forms may have been synchronized with Teshigawara's attitude of seeking new expression in the world of flower arrangement, and Yasuhara may have sought to further expand his own formative expression through collaboration with flowers.
In other words, Yasuhara's ceramics seem to regard the "vase" itself as an important part of the "flower arrangement object”. Moreover, Yasuhara's flower vases have a certain autonomous presence as individual forms, even without flowers.
One of Yasuhara Yoshiaki's most important formative qualities is that of the noble and modern robust "object vase." It is designed to become a new object when flowers are inserted.
Note 1: Todate Kazuko, "Jidai de tadoru nihon no togei (Tracing Japanese Ceramic History Part 12: Mid-Showa Period (1)-1," Honoo-geijutsu, No. 147, 2021, p. 115.
Note 2: Hasebe Mitsuhiko, "The Ceramics of Yasuhara Yoshiaki," Yasuhara Yoshiaki, Poet of the Soil, Meguro Museum of Art, 1993
