Brother Thomas Bezanson Honan Tenmoku Glaze Large Globular Vase with Cover, 1993

Description

A large globular vase with cover in honan tenmoku glaze by Brother Thomas Bezanson. USA, 1993. Signed. Pucker Gallery catalog … more A large globular vase with cover in honan tenmoku glaze by Brother Thomas Bezanson. USA, 1993. Signed. Pucker Gallery catalog number, TH975. Rotating display base included (not shown).

Brother Thomas Bezanson was an internationally renowned ceramic artist and a master of complex glazes and purity of form. Born Charles Bezanson in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1929, Brother Thomas graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Design in 1950 and received a degree in commerce from St. Mary’s University, Halifax. It was around this time that he began his work in ceramic art.

In 1959, Thomas became a monk of Weston Priory, Vermont, a community of Benedictine men. He said that Weston was a gift to him and his art in that he learned from his brother monks, “The first extension of love and freedom is creativity, and without them there is no possibility for art to exist in this world.” He continued both his art and formal education while at Weston and received a degree in philosophy and the University Gold Medal from Ottawa University, Ontario in 1968.

Later, he was invited to travel to Japan where he met five Japanese potters, designated “Living National Treasures” by the Japanese government. These artists deeply influenced his work and his thought - evident in the honan tenmoku glaze of this globular vase and cover.

As Brother Thomas developed his glazes, his goals were color, depth of surface, and uniqueness. He said, “Technology is the bridge (or barrier) to realizing the intuition. Glaze is headwork while the form is contemplative.”

Of his porcelain forms, Thomas said, “The line defines form and encloses a space; it gives at the same time the space within and without.” His practice was to throw the pot first, then, having studied the form, to choose the glaze so that each could enhance the other.

Bezanson was unique in that he destroyed much of his work - often up to 80% of it. He would focus on each piece as it emerged from the kiln, and if it did not have a "unique beauty and truth", he shattered it.

His estate is represented by Pucker Gallery in Boston. See three examples with the Honan Tenmoku glaze, see illustration 13, 24 and 34 in "The porcelain of Brother Thomas The path to the Beautiful" by Godine/Pucker Safrai. less