Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) - Abstract Expressionist Crackle Glazed Raku Chawan, Signed

Description

Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) - Crackle Glazed Raku Ceramic Chawan, Signed. Raku fired aqua and indigo glazed crackle chawan. Artist cipher … more Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) - Crackle Glazed Raku Ceramic Chawan, Signed. Raku fired aqua and indigo glazed crackle chawan. Artist cipher on the bottom. In very good condition with wear consistent with age.

Size: 2.75”H x 4.875”D

Provenance: private collection in New Hope, PA.

American artist Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011) was born in Pepeekeo, Hawaii to Japanese immigrant parents Shinsa and Kama Takaezu. During her five-decade-long career, the artist worked in many media including painting, fiber, and bronze. However, her primary medium, and that for which she is best recognized, was ceramics. Takaezu was instrumental in the post-war reconceptualization of ceramics from the functional craft tradition to the realm of fine art. Her signature “closed form” merged the base form with glazed surface painting to create a unified work.

Throughout the artist’s lifetime, her work was exhibited widely in the United States andJapan, including a solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2004) and a retrospective at the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan (1995). Takaezu was the recipient of a McInerny Foundation Grant (1952), Tiffany Foundation Grant (1964), National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1980), Watershed Legends Award (2007), and Konjuhosho Award (2010). Additionally, she was named a Living Treasure of Hawaii in 1987 and received the National Living Treasure Award from the University of North Carolina in 1994. Takaezu received honorary doctorate degrees from Lewis and Clark College (1987), Moore College of Art and Design (1992), University of Hawaii (1993), Princeton University (1996), and Skidmore College (2004). The artist is the subject of numerous publications including journal essays, exhibition catalogs, and monographs and her work is represented in many museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, DeYoung/Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Honolulu Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Smithsonian American Art Museum. less