Kumakura Junkichi
1950s Ceramic Art Work by Kumakura Junkichi
Kyoto has always been a city full of avant-garde artists dating back to the Edo period. In the 1940s a revolutionary ceramic group was formed called Sodeisha that changed the ceramic landscape of Japan forever. One of its earliest members was Kumakura Junkichi(1920-1985). Kumakura was one of Kyoto's most popular ceramic 'sculptors' and his work is in the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto as well as the Shigaraki Ceramic Park Museum and Suntory Museum. In 1989 a major retrospective exhibition was held at the Crafts Gallery, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Kumakura was voted one of the most influential potters of the 20th century by a group of leading ceramic art critics; Honoho Geijutsu, issue 65. That list can be viewed at www.e-yakimono.net. Kumakura had his first exhibition in 1951 at the Form Gallery in Ginza. He was awarded the first Japan Ceramic Society Prize in 1955. Here is a very rare and important Kumakura vase dating to the mid 1950s. We can see the playful influence of Miro, Picasso, Klee and Yagi Kazuo as well as Kumakura's own 'skillful play' at work over the white slip. The lower portion has been left unglazed and we can see 'Jun' stamped on the side. One of the photos also shows works dating from the same period that were displayed at the National Museum exhibition in Tokyo in 1989. In perfect condition with a signed box, 21.0cm.tall and 8.5cm.wide.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
