GALLERY

[ Description of the Work ]

Kanjirō Kawai was an active founding member of the “Mingei” art movement in the early Shōwa period. After the war, he pursued his own unique creative path, leaving behind many distinctive works.
This piece is a flat-sided jar from the [Three Colors] series, known as one of his representative works created during his final years.
Kawai favored this shape—a flat-sided jar composed of flat surfaces—because its large flat surfaces on the front and back provided a canvas for decoration and patterns, and he created numerous works in this style.

While Kawai typically used high-quality Shigaraki clay for his pottery, for this type of “Three Colors” series, he experimented by mixing in coarse clay excavated from within Kyoto City. This resulted in a grainy texture across the entire surface of the vessel, successfully emphasizing the three-color palette even further. The design, featuring red, green, and black glazes boldly applied with a ladle, draws inspiration from Action Painting, which was just beginning to gain popularity in the United States at the time.

Due to the nature of the Mingei movement, multiple copies of the same piece are produced; however, because they are fired in a climbing kiln, each piece exhibits unique variations.
This piece features perfect color saturation in all three hues, and the firing marks and charred tones have been achieved with ideal balance.

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