SHIGARAKI STYLE STONEWARE VESSEL

Koyama Yasuhisa initiated a revival of Shigaraki high-fired wares in 1968 when he became the first modern potter to construct a traditional anagama (tunnel kiln) in Shigaraki. As classic Shigaraki ware, Koyama's forms are strong and spare. He produces everyday pottery, such as sake flasks and cups, as well as abstract sculpture. His April 2002 one-man show at Takashimaya Department Store, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, continued the potter's three-decade history of solo exhibitions at the major department store galleries in Japan. Among Western institutions that include his work in their collections are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Everson Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.