Lot Essay
Hamada Shoji was born in Takatsu, Shinagawa, Tokyo, the son of a stationery store owner. As a young man, Hamada wanted to become a painter, but ceramics captured his interest in junior high school when he saw the work of Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963) in the Mikasa Gallery. He entered the ceramic department of the Tokyo Technical College in 1913 to study with Itaya Hazan (1872-1963) and graduated in 1916. He then worked alongside Kawai Kanjiro (1890-1966) at the Kyoto Ceramics Research Institute and visited Tomimoto Kenkichi in Nara. Hamada met the famous British potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979) in 1918 and, in 1920, traveled to St. Ives, Cornwall, England to work and study with Leach until 1923. Returning to Japan in 1924 he made his home at Mashiko, in Tochigi Prefecture north of Tokyo, a town that grew to become a center of folk art. His first one-man exhibition was held at The Paterson Gallery in London in 1923.
Hamada co-founded the Nihon Mingeikan (The Japan Folk Art Association) in 1926 in Tokyo along with Kawai and Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961). He traveled in Korea from 1936-37 with Yanagi and Kawai collecting Korean folk art for the Japan Folk Art Museum in Tokyo. In 1952 he toured the United States with Leach and Yanagi, and he visited again in 1966 and 1967 to give workshops and to exhibit his ceramics. In 1963 he was represented in the first general exhibition of contemporary Japanese ceramics, A View of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, held at the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art. The scope of this exhibition was broad and included work by Hamada's mentor Itaya Hazan as well as experimental sculpture of the early 1960s. Hamada has been represented in many exhibitions since then, including most recently in 1991, Masters of Modern Ceramics at the Shiga Prefecture Art Museum and in Modern Japanese Ceramics in American Collections at the Japan Society in New York 1993-94.
Hamada's influence is international and his work is included in numerous major museum collections. His ceramics, made for everyday use, are noted for their simplicity of form, harmonic design, and for the traditional techniques with which they are made. The most famous potter of his period and the leader of the folk art style, Hamada was named a Living National Treasure in 1955.
Hamada co-founded the Nihon Mingeikan (The Japan Folk Art Association) in 1926 in Tokyo along with Kawai and Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961). He traveled in Korea from 1936-37 with Yanagi and Kawai collecting Korean folk art for the Japan Folk Art Museum in Tokyo. In 1952 he toured the United States with Leach and Yanagi, and he visited again in 1966 and 1967 to give workshops and to exhibit his ceramics. In 1963 he was represented in the first general exhibition of contemporary Japanese ceramics, A View of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, held at the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art. The scope of this exhibition was broad and included work by Hamada's mentor Itaya Hazan as well as experimental sculpture of the early 1960s. Hamada has been represented in many exhibitions since then, including most recently in 1991, Masters of Modern Ceramics at the Shiga Prefecture Art Museum and in Modern Japanese Ceramics in American Collections at the Japan Society in New York 1993-94.
Hamada's influence is international and his work is included in numerous major museum collections. His ceramics, made for everyday use, are noted for their simplicity of form, harmonic design, and for the traditional techniques with which they are made. The most famous potter of his period and the leader of the folk art style, Hamada was named a Living National Treasure in 1955.