Artist Birthday: Matsuzaki Kenichi
Kenichi Matsuzaki exemplifies the richness of the contemporary ceramic art of Japan. His rough surface stoneware works pay tribute to the centuries old traditions of Japanese ceramics, one of the ...
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Curator's Corner
August Is National Dog Month: Kofun Period
I am not a “cat person” at all, but I absolutely love doggies of all sorts, big and small. I get my almost weekly dose of cuteness when I visit my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and get ...
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Curator's Corner
Gem of the Month: Seto Ware
Let’s welcome the coming month of July with a gorgeous example of ceramics from Japan. Japanese ceramics have an incredibly long history and tradition of excellence. This tradition dates back to ...
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Curator's Corner
International Pomegranate Month: Lu Zonggui and Keiko Mori
I can’t find anything about the history of International Pomegranate Month. However, I think pomegranate juice is yummy (and good for you), so let’s celebrate the month with art! ...
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Curator's Corner
Art for National Peach Month 2024
August was first declared National Peach Month in the United States in 1982. Since August is the month when peaches are supposed to be at their peak ripeness, let’s look at some works of art tha ...
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Curator's Corner
Gem of the Month: Kyoko Tokumaru
Kyoko Tokumaru is a brilliant sculptor who creates organic forms in ceramics, fashioning complex pieces out of hard-to-work-with porcelain. Like many contemporary clay sculptures, Tokumaru’s wor ...
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Curator's Corner
Gems of the Month: Contemporary Japanese Tea Bowls
This month’s gems are contemporary artworks that serve the ages-old Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu or sado). Tea drinking was first introduced in Japan during the Nara period (710–794) aft ...
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Curator's Corner
A Young Wheat Plant for Spring: Hamada Shōji
As an avid learner of the thousands of years of Japanese ceramic arts history, I am always excited to contemplate an artist’s work that I had never studied carefully before. Shōji Hama ...
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Curator's Corner
Respect for History: Kako Katsumi
Never underestimate the aesthetic power of an ancient culture’s art. That can certainly be said of the stranglehold ancient Greek and Roman culture has had on Western art since the Renaissance ( ...
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Curator's Corner
Layered Magnificence: Miyashita Zenji
I am eternally grateful for the ability to be “wowed” on a continual basis when I see works of art/artists I’ve never seen before! This may just be the art historian nerd in me, but ...
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