Ceramics Art + Perception issue #116 available now

Contemporary Japanese ceramics stand at the top of artistic imagination, traditionally seen as the ultimate expression of Japanese spirit, art, and daily life. Over the past two decades, a new generation of ceramicists have redefined and reshaped clay art, formulating their own personal imaginative statements, and taking ceramics to new horizons. It has become a specialized area of collecting, which attracts passionate and dedicated collectors fascinated with the ambitious achievements in the clay medium.  

It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of Koie Ryōji, a bold and experimental artist best known for his ceramics. It was only after a long battle that he succumbed at the age of 82. 

We are excited to inform you that our virtual exhibition, 19th-century Ukiyo-e and 20th-century Shin-hanga from the George Crawford Collection, is now open.  Over a lifetime of collecting, George Crawford sought out and acquired exceptionally fine and rare Japanese woodblock prints from both the celebrated auctions of the 1970s and 80s as well as from leading American dealers.  Among the collection’s prints are those by the famous 19th-century Utagawa school artists Hiroshige (1797-1858), Kunisada (1786-1865), Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) and  Yoshitomi  (act. 1850-60s).  Additionally, 20th-century landscape artists such as Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) and Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) are also well-represented.

Tanaka Yū (b. 1989), a highly creative, young female artist based in Kyoto, focuses exclusively on clay sculpture.  Inspired by the earlier Sodeisha group, she strives to create forms that encapsulate both space and air and question the very nature of functionality.  The softness, texture and pliability of cotton cloth colored with traditional dyes for such standard materials are her main point of departure.  These trompe l'oeil clay sculptures of Japanese wrapping cloths seemingly enclose hidden vessels or boxes.

Inspired by the curling leaves of local foliage such as the deeply veined lotus, INABA Chikako (b. 1974) creates elegantly furled sculptural stoneware vessels covered in creamy white glaze.  Among the awards her work has received, the most recent is the Third Japan Ceramic Society Encouragement Prize at Kansai in 2018.

Kondō Takahiro is a winner of the 33rd Kyoto Art Culture Award. The selection committee was impressed with Kondō's original techniques that he has developed over his career. They also cited the originality he has shown in a wide range of works, from nominally functional vessels to figurative sculptures.
The Kyoto Art Culture Award is given to those who have made a great contribution to Kyoto's culture through artistic activities.
 

The first, in a program of public on-line discussions organized by Joan B Mirviss LTD with Japanese artists and art experts, WINDSWEPT, a Conversation with Kino Satoshi, was held the evening of April 23, 2020. Sculptor Kino Satoshi and moderator Joan Mirviss, were joined by a panel of art collectors and experts in the field of Japanese clay art and we are most gratified to report that the 100-screen ZOOM session was totally booked.

This is the second NYC solo exhibition for porcelain sculptor Kino Satoshi (b. 1987), who is celebrated for his rippling, ribbon-like sculptures covered in pale, translucent, seihakuji celadon glaze.  Kino recently won the important Special Under-35 Award of the twenty-fifth Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition and his work was selected for the cover of the publication "New Forms, New Voices" from the New Orleans Museum of Art.

For our March Asia Week 2020, we are delighted to present two important exhibitions: Restraint and Flamboyance, Masterworks of Mino and Ukiyo- e Highlights from the Collection of George Crawford. Both exhibitions will run from March 12 – April 24, 2020.

The Japan Ceramic Society awards the Japan Ceramic Society Prize to artists who have achieved outstanding work, and the Japan Ceramic Society Gold Prize to artists who have left a profound mark on the world of ceramic art. From the traditional to the objet d'art, the varied expressions of modern ceramic works by award-winning artists are now appearing together in one place.

Congratulations to Sakiyama Takayuki (b. 1958) for being selected as one of the shortlist for the 2020 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize!

This exhibition focuses on 20th and 21st century-clay art and the array of styles and forms that serve as surfaces for metallic overglaze that exquisitely complements their inventive forms–– both functional and sculptural.

Surpassing Tradition, Redefining Tamba: Nishihata Tadashi will be on view from November 5 to December 20, 2019. Tamba, one of the six ancient Japanese kiln sites, is famous for simple and austere functional ceramics. Nishihata creates works that reflect not only his mastery of the region's techniques but also his keen sense of modern aesthetics. This show will feature fifteen new masterworks, all showcasing his innovative use of traditional Tamba-style glazes.

Surpassing Tradition, Redefining Hagi: Kaneta Masanao is opening on November 5 until December 20, 2019. Using centuries-old glazes, Kaneta creates unique and readily identifiable functional and non-functional sculptural forms. Kaneta will present fifteen new works created specifically for this show. His push-pull between form and surface, function and sculpture, innovative technique and traditional glaze will be spectacularly on view.

New York (November 2019). It is with great pleasure that we announce the publication of The Allure of Japanese Contemporary Ceramics by Joan B Mirviss. Subtitled for the Japanese market: “What only the Japanese do not understand about the truth in regards to Japanese modern clay art!", the book was written to awaken Japan to the extraordinary beauty, power and diversity of this art form that is–– NOW collected by over sixty museums in the US alone, the focus of countless exhibitions and passionately acquired by sophisticated collectors around the globe.

"Most people, when they see a beautiful object say, “that’s lovely” or “I want that”. Very few say, “I want to learn how to make that”, and even fewer say, “I know how to do that”. Ogata Kamio is that rare individual who not only saw something wonderful in ancient Chinese neriage pottery, but also had the desire and willpower to learn the technique for himself, despite no formal training. In Waves of Optical Illusion: Ogata Kamio, he takes thin layers of colored clay, laminates them, then uses a potter’s wheel to throw the clay into bowls or vessels. After creating the form, the clay is cut across the grain to give the piece texture and show various colors under the top layer. The result is striking, with the eye following the complex pattern of the surface and the color as it also revels in the symmetry of the overall shape."

New York - It is with great pride that Joan B Mirviss LTD presents our fouth solo exhibition with clay sculptor, Kishi Eiko (b.1948), reflecting a close relationship of over two decades. In Composite Memories: The Clay Art of Kishi Eiko, opening on September 10th, Kishi's inimitable mosaic-like chamotte-inlay technique (saiseki zogan) will be front and center. 

New York- Joan B Mirviss LTD is excited to present master ceramist, Ogata Kamio in his first solo exhibition outside Japan, Nami: Shikaku Geijutsu / Waves of Optical Illusion: Ogata Kamio, opening on September 10. Transcending the ancient Chinese prototypes upon which this tradition of marbleization was born, Ogata is able to layer hundreds of paper-thin strata of gradated hand-colored clay, from which he throws a vessel, creating striated-linear surface patterns.

September 13, 2019 --With work now on view in the exhibition “Living Clay: Artists Respond to Nature,” Futamura Yoshimi will give an artist talk from 6:30 pm to 7:30pm at Pillsbury Auditorium on Friday, September 13, 2019. Please visit their website for online tickets.  

Current Exhibition

Summer Clay: Textures of the Shoreline

Ceramics appeal to collectors, in part due to their tactility. Viewing and handling a vessel may spark associative memories of places visited and times-gone-by. Summer Clay: Textures of the Shoreline showcases contemporary Japanese ceramics – the surfaces and shapes of which evoke reminiscences of idyllic days spent at the sea- side. For this exhibition, the works have been selected for their ability to prompt such palpable recollections and the ceramics of both modern and contemporary clay masters are included.

We are delighted to announce that Iguchi Daisuke, a clay artist whose first US solo exhibition we hosted in March 2018, won the grand prize at this year’s Paramita Museum Ceramics Arts Exhibition.  He becomes the eighth artist who has been represented by Joan B Mirviss LTD to win this prestigious award. Previous winners were Mihara Ken (‘06), Kawabata Kentarō (‘07), Nagae Shigekazu (’09), Wakao Kei (’10), Wada Akira (’11), Itō Hidehito (’13) and Kino Satoshi (’17).     

Paramita Museum is a private museum located in Mie prefecture with a vast permanent collection of Japanese ceramics.  For this particular exhibition, six ceramists were nominated by a prestigious national committee of museums curators, gallery directors and art critics. Their ceramics were then showcased at the museum. The grand prize winner is based on the voting of museum visitors.  

We look forward to working with him in decades to follow.

We are pleased to announce that as of May, 2019, Miwa Kazuhiko (b. 1951) has assumed the family title of Miwa Kyūsetsu XIII after his brother, Miwa Kyūsetsu XII (Ryōsaku)'s retirement. Miwa Kyūsetsu XII will continue creative activity but under the name Ryūkishō. This transfer marks the continuation of the ceramic lineage of the Miwa family which has, for four centuries, been the most celebrated family working in the Hagi tradition.

NEW YORK CITY — This year, the phenomenon known as Asia Week New York — when everyone who is anyone in the world of Asian art and antiques descends on New York City for a whirlwind series of lectures, gallery openings, sales, shows and receptions — celebrated its tenth year. In addition to works on view at six New York City auction houses, as well as auctions conducted more distantly in both Philadelphia and Boston, seven dealers debuted this season, bringing the total of galleries participating in the annual event to 48 dealers.

March 20, 2019—A new exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) highlights recent work by more than a dozen living Japanese women clay artists who evoke or respond to the natural world in diverse ways, some traditional, others wholly novel. 

The 10th anniversary celebration of Asia Week New York—the Asian art extravaganza—which concluded on March 23, 2019– reported that combined sales totaled $150,544,501. At press time, this figure includes 43 out of 48 galleries and the five six auction houses: Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Heritage Auctions and Sotheby’s. (iGavel’s online sale ends April 16). 

To mark the 10- year milestone, a champagne reception was held in the Patrons Lounge at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to honor a group of ten distinguished collectors, museum professionals and dealers, who have made significant contributions to advancing Asian art in North America. The honorees included Diane and Arthur Abbey, Dr. Julia and John Curtis, Maxwell “Mike” Hearn, Elizabeth B. “Lillie” and Edward “Ned” Johnson 3d, James Lally, Soyoung Lee, Stephen Little, Joan B. Mirviss, Amy G. Poster, and Shelley and Donald Rubin.

NEW YORK, NY - Asia Week New York got off to a roaring start last week, when 48 galleries, 6 auction houses-Bonhams, Christie's, Doyle, Heritage, iGavel, and Sotheby's and 16 museums opened their doors to collectors, curators, and connoisseurs who converged in New York to get their annual eyeful of what's on offer at the galleries and auction houses now through March 23rd.

Editor's Picks: 11 Things Not to Miss in New York's Art World This Week, Asia Week New York Edition

Mirviss says: "Tomimoto "transformed the course of 20th century ceramics and the field of contemporary clay on a global stage, and he had some major credos, one of them being to not make pattern from patterns...

The Buddhas, Gods and Emperors of Asia Week New York

Joan B. Mirviss, a dealer specialising in Japanese art and ceramics, has organized a retrospective (with a lavish bilingual catalogue) of the work of the ceramicist Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963), who travelled to England and befriended Bernard Leach.

NEW YORK, NY December 2018 JOAN B MIRVISS LTD with the invaluable assistance of Japan's leading modern ceramic dealer, Shibuya Kurodatoen Co., LTD is honored to present Vessel Explored / Vessel Transformed: Tomimoto Kenkichi and his Enduring Legacy. This groundbreaking exhibition and its accompanying publication, the first of its type outside Japan, focuses on the remarkable artist and teacher, Tomimoto Kenkichi. While, a relative unknown in the west, Tomimoto is revered as the father of his field.

VESSEL EXPLORED / VESSEL TRANSFORMED
Tomimoto Kenkichi and his Enduring Legacy
Joan Mirviss, 13 March to 19 April

Joan Mirviss has devoted more than four dcades to the promotion and support of mainly 20th-century Japanese clay wares in New York and this year's solo showcase is in collaboration with Japan-based Shibuya Kurodatoen Co for the artist and teacher Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963).

Joan B Mirviss Ltd, with the invaluable assistance of Shibuya Kurodatoen Co., Ltd, Japan's leading modern ceramic dealer, is honoured to present "Vessel Explored / Vessel Transformed- Tomimoto Kenkichi and His Enduring Legacy". Joan Mirviss explained: "Tomimoto is revered as the father of his field. He was the most significant figure in the world of 20th century Japanese ceramics and his impact continues through his gifted and inspired former pupils and their talented students, many of whom are now professors of ceramics."

NEW YORK CITY - Joan B Mirviss with the assistance of Japan's modern ceramic dealer, Shibuya Kurodatoen Co, is presenting "Vessel Explored/Vessel Transformed: Tomimoto Kenkichi and His Enduring Legacy" from March 13 - April 20. This exhibition and its accompanying publication, the first of its type outside Japan, focuses on the artist and teacher Tomimoto Kenkichi.

Joan B. Mirviss, a dealer specialising in Japanese art and ceramics, has organised a retrospective (with a lavish bilingual catalogue) of the work of the ceramicist Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963), who travelled to England and befriended Bernard Leach. Tomimoto encouraged his countrymen to study Western art and pursue invention in clay rather than repetition of traditional patterns. 'Vessel Explored / Vessel Transformed: Tomimoto Kenkichi and His Enduring Legacy' will explore Tomimoto's inspirations including Aristide Maillol's fleshy bronze women and William Morris's fern repeats, as well as contemporary Japanese artisans influenced by Tomimoto. Mirviss says that few American collectors and institutions are aware of his work. She needs to tell his story, she explains, at a high-profile time like Asia Week.

"We cannot ignore Asia," said Mike Hearn, Chair of the Asian Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to a nodding crowd of collectors, dealers, and journalists, gathered in anticipation of Asia Week New York, an annual 10-day celebration of Asian Art.

The Winter Show is back, with its 65th Anniversary Sapphire Jubilee taking place from January 18th to 27th at New York's Park Avenue Armory.

NEW YORK CITY - "The Five Elements" - Gogyō / Five Japanese Masters of the Art of Clay" features the work of Yoshikawa Masamichi (b. 1946), Futamura Yoshimi (b. 1959), Kakurezaki Ryuichi (b. 1950), Kaneta Masanao (b. 1953), and Kondo Takahiro (b. 1958)

'At fifteen years old, I realised that I wanted to use my hands to create something', says Nagoya-born, Paris-based artist Yoshimi Futamura. 

Connoisseur, collector, curator or simply an admirer of beauty- all are beneficiaries of the current golden age of Japanes ceramics.

NEW YORK - Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., a leader in Japanese contemporary clay art based in New York, is pleased to present the work of five major ceramic artists at the 2019 Winter Show. The exhibition, "The Five Elements-- Gogyō / Five Japanese Masters of the Art of Clay" features the work of FUTAMURA Yoshimi (b. 1959), KAKUREZAKI Ryūichi (b. 1950), KANETA Masanao (b. 1953), KONDŌ Takahiro (b. 1958), and YOSHIKAWA Masamichi (b. 1946).

The Asia Week New York Association announces that forty-eight international galleries and six auction houses- Bonhams, Christie's, Doyle, Heritage Auctions, iGavel, and Sotheby's will participate in the 10th anniveresary edition of Asia Week New York 2019, the ten-day celebration of Asian Art and culture that spans the metropolitan region from March 13 through 23, 2019.

"Ogawa does not so much use clay to achieve self-expression as make herself the means through which the clay reveals its inner strength"

This is the third solo show of the female artist at the gallery. Featuring two main bodies of work, the show focusses on her minerology and torn sculpture series.

New York

Joan Mirviss will be holding an exhibition titled 'Into the Earth: The Clay Art of Ogawa Machiko', the gallery's third solo show of the female artist's work.

NEW YORK - Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., a leader in Japanese contemporary clay art based in New York, is pleased to present the work of five major ceramic artists at the 2019 Winter Show. The exhibition, "The Five Elements-- Gogyō / Five Japanese Masters of the Art of Clay" features the work of FUTAMURA Yoshimi (b. 1959), KAKUREZAKI Ryūichi (b. 1950), KANETA Masanao (b. 1953), KONDŌ Takahiro (b. 1958), and YOSHIKAWA Masamichi (b. 1946). These internationally known ceramists offer the American public a rare look into the world of contemporary Japanese clay drawn from the aesthetics of ancient Asia, refined and reworked in a thoroughly modern context. These five celebrated Japanese ceramic artists have agreed to create new works specifically designed for this remarkable show.

Fukumoto Fuku and Kino Satoshi have received Encouragement Awards at Japan Ceramic Society Encouragement Awards Kansai Region Exhibition on Septemer 17.

Today, Japanese clay art is experiencing one of the richest and most diverse periods in its long history. Throughout 2018, three lobby displays, curated by Joan B. Mirviss, an authority on Japanese ceramics and a New York City gallery owner for 40 years, will feature the work of ground-breaking Japanese ceramists who stand on the world stage, boldly asserting their independence, creativity, and technical genius.

New York- Joan B Mirviss LTD is delighted to announce our forthcoming exhibition, Into the Earth: The Clay Art of Ogawa Machiko, our third solo show of this female master, a force in the Japanese art world. Featuring two main bodies of work, the show will focus on her minerology and torn sculpture series.

Joan B Mirviss is delighted to announce the opening on September 11th of Shifting Rhythms: The Sculpted Moments of Koike Shōko, the artist's third solo exhibition at Joan B Mirviss LTD. Collectors have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of these creations by this exceptionally talented clay artist and already nearly one third of the show has been reserved.

Mishima Kimiyo (b. 1932) has long been known for her trompe l'oiel ceramic objects that appear to be newspapers or household trash. Two recent exhibitions in Tokyo offered paintings, mixed-media and found objects plus large-scale installations including fiberglass, as well as the expected variety of ceramic work. One show was impressive for its breadth and the other was staggering for its large scale.

The Gardiner Museum is focusing on Japan in 2018. In the Museum's lobby over the course of the year, three linked displays form an exhibition celebrating thirty outstanding contemporary Japanese artists.

Japan Now gives an unparalleled opportunity for Canadians to see the latest work being produced today by Japanese artists, at a time when Japanese clay is experiencing one of the richest and most diverse periods of its history.

Hoshino Satoru (b. 1945), has established an international reputation through residencies and guest teaching, and for his large installations. While this gallery is a modest space, low-ceilinged and windowless, he transformed it into a dark field of motion with his Beginning Form-Spiral '17.

NEW YORK CITY - Joan B Mirviss, Ltd presents the work of Hoshino Kayoko and Satoru in "Double Spiral: The Sculptural Art of Hoshino Kayoko and Satoru," an exhibition devoted to more than 30 new works by this celebrated ceramicist couple. The exhibition continues through June 15.

Collectors of contemporary Japanese ceramics have a marvelous opportunity to acquire new works on May 1 when Double Spiral, a selling exhibition of 30 stunning pieces by renowned contemporary Japanese husband and wife potters Hoshino Kayoko and Hoshino Satoru, opens at the Joan B. Mirviss gallery on New York's Upper East Side. "The exhibition highlights the intertwining physical and spiritual worlds of the couple within their practices, and explores the balance of opposites as represented by the yin-yang taikyokuzu symbol," says Mirviss of the selection of pottery pieces on offer.

Asia Week New York - the ten-day Asian art extravaganza that concluded on March 24, reports that combined sales totaled $169,819,900. At press time, this figure includes 41 out of 45 galleries and the four auction houses: Bonhams, Christie's, Doyle and Sotheby's.

"Mirviss selections are beyond comparison. This is truly the only show in town."

Joan Mirviss's taste in contemporary Japanese ceramics is well known and this year she is presenting works by Matsui Kosei (1927-2003), Kamoda Shoji (1933-1983) and Wada Morihiro (1944-2008), major innovators in the scheme of 20th-century Japanese ceramics.

Works from three of Japan's most accomplished clay artists are on display to coincide with Asia Week; the works of Shoji, Kosei, and Morihiro are functional and innovative, each with their own individual style.

Kamoda Shōji was arguably the top ceramist in the incredibly rich history of 20th-century Japanese ceramics. Joan B. Mirviss LTD (New York) is placing a large body of his work, neve before seen outside of Japan front and center, in Three Giants of The North: Kamoda Shōji, Matsui Kōsei and Wada Morihiro. This masterpiece from his mature period, with over-glaze enamel blue elements, flaunts his genius at creating an elegant unity between form and surface. 39 East 78th Street, Suite 401

Joan B. Mirviss LTD

Ceramics enthusiasts will leave Mirviss's gallery feeling absolutely energized. For around ten years, Mirviss has been preparing "Three Giants of The North," a selling exhibition combining works from three superstar Japanese ceramists from the 20th century: Kamoda Shoji, Matsui Kosei, and Wada Morihiro. Here, an assemblage of colorful, textured works from the masters of clay will be shown in the U.S. for the first time.

In the field of ceramics, a number of excellent works are on show. A joint exhibition by Kaikoko and Chambers Fine Art provides an intriguing pairing, placing Neolithic Chinese and Japanese pots side by side, to show how the respective aesthetic values of the two cultures - formality and strucure versus organic freedom - were evident even 2,500 years ago. Joan B Mirviss introduces three modern clay artists from Japan who are little-known in the west but whom she believes have 'contributed to altering the style and aesthetic of Japanese ceramic history'. One is Matsui Kosei (1927-2003), a priest and potter who revived the 'neriage' technique for marbling clay, creating his own version; a sort of mille-feuille of thin layers of differently coloured clays which he would then throw and sometimes chisel.

Galleries

Several angular pots by Wada Morihiro (1944-2008), one of the three major 20th-century Japanese ceramic artists to which her current show is dedicated, are on compact but extroardinary display at Joan B Mirviss, incised with complex patterns and painted in a striking combination of black, white and red slip accented with green glaze. 39 East 78th Street, suite 401; 212-799-4021; mirviss.com

The collection of ceramics by the excellent 20th-century potter Kamoda Shoji at Joan B. Mirviss is a notable highlight. An added bonus: The pieces have never been shown outside of Japan.

Asia Week's Rare and Unusual Objects for Art Lovers and Collectors

The collection of ceramics by the excellent 20th-century potter Kamoda Shōji at Joan B. Mirviss is a notable highlight. An added bonus: The pieces have never been shown outside of Japan.

Joan discusses Asia Week New York and the current shift in art collecting.

Joan B Mirviss was mentioned in Antiques And The Arts Weekly

Joan B Mirviss was mentioned in the New York Times

"After 40 years, Joan Mirviss' US gallery is a game-changer for young Japanese artists"

"Fujikasa's Stoneware Takes Flight" by Janet Koplos in "Ceramics: Art and Perception"

The inaugural Asia Week Contemporary is a huge success with a enthusiastic response from collectors.

The inaugural Asia Week New York Contemporary arrives on May 2-10

Widespread success at Asia Week New York 2017

A new acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of art was also featured in a Joan B Mirviss exhibition

This week's issue of Antiques and the Arts Weekly featured a Q & A with Joan about her 40th anniversary show

We were recently featured in the New York Times for Asia Week

Joan B Mirviss LTD's exhibition, Ao: Colors of Nature in Blue+Green, presenting carefully selected Japanese art that explores the subtleties of ao, was featured in the online newspaper ArtDaily.

Flow #1 by Fujikasa Satoko has been selected for The Poster Project at the Portland Art Museum and has become one of the most popular works viewed on the museum's website.

Joan B Mirviss LTD's exhibition, Waves of Ink: Painting in Porcelain, presenting the artwork of Kondo Takahiro was featured in the online newspaper ArtDaily. 

Waves of Ink: Painting in Porcelain, our upcoming exhibition of new works by Kondo Takahiro, is featured on the Fall Asia Week New York website. 

Long-time friend and client of Joan Mirviss LTD, Steven Korff, and his wonderful ceramic collection were featured in the New York Times.

It is with tremendous sadness that I announce the death of one of the seminal figures in the world of Japanese contemporary ceramics, Madame Tomo Kikuchi. She passed away on August 20th at the age of 93 and her funeral was held on the 24th at which time more than 1500 people were in attendance. Her impact on the field was unrivaled and global.

Akiyama Yō's major retrospective exhibition on view at the Musée Tomo in Tokyo from April 2 to July 24, 2016.

Joan B Mirviss LTD is featured in Antiques and The Arts Weekly article on Asia Week 2016.

Water jar,by Kondō Takahiro, featured in New York Times article on Asia Week 2016.

Sculpture by Fujikasa Satoko and more featured in the article Floating Earth.
 

The Joan B Mirviss booth at the Winter Antiques Show was featured in the New York Times.

Joan B Mirviss LTD is thrilled to announce that the Takashimaya Art Award, presented by the Takashimaya Cultural Foundation (Takashimaya Bunka Kikin), has been betowed upon Fujikasa Satoko.

Katsumata Chieko's "Akoda," 2014, is featured in an exhibition called "Ceramix."
 

Exhibition press release.

Gift from Phyllis Kempner and David Stein expands museum's collection of contemporary art

To download a copy of the article, click here.

Press Release for Fujikasa Satoko's Exhibtion "Form in Motion" at Joan B Mirviss LTD.

An article by William Grimes of the New York Times discussing Asia Week New York and "Tsubo: The Art of the Vessel."

To view this article, click here.

The Harn Museum will host an interactive artist workshop with JBM artist, Akiyama Yo, and feature a guest lecture by Joan B. Mirviss and noted collectors, Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz.

Asia Week New York—the nine-day Asian art extravaganza—ended on a stupendous note: $200 million in sales, exceeding last year’s number by $25 million. From the minute the 47 international galleries of Asia Week New York opened their doors on March 14, a whirlwind of activities invigorated the city. The annual event was celebrated with a magnificent reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 17, where the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed more than 600 collectors, curators and Asian art specialists. The event ignited excitement that burned for the entire week, and the Asian art world buzzed with exhibitions and record-breaking auctions that were thronged with international buyers from mainland China, Taiwan, India, Japan, Korea and the United States.

The Brooklyn Museum's Asian Art galleries are closed for reconstruction until next year, but you can see 71 works from their collection, covering more than 2,000 years, at Japan Society (333 East 47th Street). Meanwhile the Met has an exhibition devoted to Edo period (1635-1868) painting that includes 12 folding screens and numerous scrolls. The Noguchi Museum (9-01 33rd Road, at Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens) is showing drawings from the late 1920's and early '30's in which the Japanese-American sculptor Isama Noguchi began to break away, stylistically, from his mentor, Constantin Brancusi..

To download a copy of the article,click here.

“One doesn’t need an art history degree to appreciate contemporary Japanese ceramics,” says Joan Mirviss of Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. in New York.

To download a copy of the article,click here.

Joan Mirviss has collaborated with the Tokyo-based Shibuya Kurodatoen Co. Ltd to present Japan in Black and White: Ink and Clay. 

To download a copy of the article,click here.

In the exhibition "Japan Black and White: Ink and Clay," New York-based Joan B Mirviss Ltd 39 East 78th Street will show screen-style sculpture by Yamada Hikaru (1923-2001) titled "Tohen Mandara" in 1973. The works manifest Hikaru's radical approach in the manipulation of clay.

To download a copy of the article,click here.

The Cincinnati Art Museum lately has been concentrating on what it calls “node” shows — small-to-medium-size exhibitions and gallery changes highlighting its collection or local angles.

To download a copy of the article,click here.

Some of this fair's clarity results from stalls devoted exclusively or primarily to the efforts of one maker. Joan B. Mirviss has a taste-shifting display of the encrusted, elaboratively flanged ceramics of Koike Shok, a revered Japanese artist in her late 60s who looks to coral and seashells for inspiration.

To download a copy of the article, click here.

Manhattan dealer, Joan B. Mirviss, who specializes in Japanese ceramics and art, is hosting an exhibition titled The Eight Winds: Chinese Influence on Japanese Ceramics.To see a full PDF of the article, click here.

From The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto's Website:
One of the most representative potters of post-war Japan, SUZUKI Osamu (1926－2001) was born in the Gojo-zaka district of Kyoto, as the third son of the pottery wheel worker SUZUKI Ugenji, who worked for the Eiraku-kobo atelier, one of the ten craftsmen families for the House of Sen.

"During the 1930s the Toledo Museum of Art introduced modern Japanese prints to American audiences with two landmark exhibitions. These seminal shows featured the works of 15 contemporary Japanese artists who had revived the traditional art of the woodblock print for a new era. Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints reassembles and reinterprets the 1930 show and adds companion objects depicted in the prints such as kimonos, netsuke, and samurai swords."

NEW YORK, NY.- Joan B. Mirviss Ltd presents the exhibition Out of the Fire: Sultry Ceramics, featuring 20 renowned Japanese artists representing the major traditions of Japanese wood-fired ceramics: Bizen, Hagi, Iga, Karatsu, Mino, Shigaraki, Tamba and Tokoname. In modern times, as electric and gas kilns have largely replaced wood-burning kilns, these artworks, born of the heat generated by wood-fired kilns, are especially seductive and stunning. It is the very nature of a wood-burning kiln to be essentially unpredictable. Maintaining the high temperature required to fire ceramics necessitates consistent feeding of the fire over an extended period of time; and the interior temperature and conditions vary depending on the location inside the kiln. Not only does this make the process of wood firing more time-consuming, but it also requires knowledge of the intricacies of each personally built anagama (single-chambered sloped tunnel) or noborigama (multi-chambered climbing) kiln. Placement within a kiln has a tremendous impact on its surface.

The work of seven of Japan’s finest mod- ern ceramists was on artful display here. Tea bowls, plates, and sculptural objects were nestled in quiet nooks or perched on hand-hewn wooden pedestals. This lovely show focused on pieces from the mid-20th century by craftsmen who are not well known outside of Japan.

NEW YORK CITY - Joan B. Mirviss Ltd will present its first exhibition focused exclusively on the ceramic art of the Japanese tea ceremony, with more than 40 recent works by teabowl artist Ajiki Hiro. The exhibition will be on view May 3 - June 28.

Click here to view a PDF of the article.

This year the gallery is concentrating on a coterie of modern masters: Arakawa Toyozo, Ishiguro Munemaro, Kamoda Shoji, Kawakita Handeishi, Kitaoji Rosanjin, Okabe Mineo and Yagi Kazuo. 

Click here to view the original article.

Joan B. Mirviss' feature ad for the annual Winter Antiques Show of 2013.

How do artworks and furniture from the 16th century to the present get into museums? Most international survey museums were built upn the existing collections of aristocrats or the donations of wealthy patron. But new acqusitinons often go through art dealers, and an art fair like The Salon: Art + Design is the kind of place where you might see a few before they find institutional homes.

We are deeply saddened to announce that on August 13th, 2012 the world lost the tremendously talented and delightful Katō Yasukage (1964-2012). The fourteenth in his familial line of Mino ceramists, dating back to the Momoyama era, Yasukage was among the most gifted. He was killed in a car crash while driving in a rainstorm on a twisting mountain road in Nagano and is survived by three beautiful, very young daughters, his wife, mother and sister.

 

By HOLLAND COTTER
Published: September 27, 2012

Have any artists ever, anywhere, caught the hello-ness of spring and the farewell-ness of autumn more sweetly and sharply than the Rimpa painters of Japan? Two shimmering fall exhibitions, one at Japan Society and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, argue persuasively that no, no artists ever have.

Earth & Alchemy opens at MassArt's Stephen D. Paine Gallery on Monday, September 24th. Gallery doors open for viewing at noon. At 6pm there will be a public reception.

12 Septmber to 19 October
The works of Nakamura Takuo, born in 1945, are the sole subject of this exhibition which is timed to coincide with the exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Japan Society. The ceramics will include freestanding sculptural and functional vessels that incorporate the uniquely Japanese painting aesthetic known as Rimpa, sometimes spelled these days as Rinpa. Because of his strength of form, copacetic decoration and excellence of execution, Nakamura's work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa.

This autumn marks the thirty-fifth year Joan B Mirviss LTD has been a leader in the field of Japanese fine art. In celebration of this momentous occasion, we are pleased to present the first of several remarkable exhibitions.

The tea ceremony is a prominent feature of life in Kanazawa. Many citizens are involved with the traditions of tea on a daily basis, and ceremonies are held regularly throughout the city. Kutani-ware ceramicist Takuo Nakamura, a leader in the Kanazwa crafts world whose work exudes a highly original, fully modern aesthetic, agreed to host a tea ceremony for us in the contemporary style for which he is known.

Tai Gallery has a Japanese ceramics show with works from a broad mix of contemporary ceramicists as well as a show within itself, Desert Bloom, of Fujino Sachiko's work. On the Avant Garde of Japanese pottery, the collective offers clay in all different shapes and sizes but which consistently maintain the core structure of vessel.

Until recently, Japanese ceramic art has been a male-dominate field, with women forbidden even to touch a kiln.

My first impression of Kayoko’s ceramics was that of a double take. At a first glance, the simple ceramics look like carved rocks but how could they be if the label is calling them ceramics? Then on closer inspection one quickly adjusts the eye with the rational to appreciate beautiful contemporary ceramics made by a gifted artist.

NEW YORK, NY.- This exhibition titled The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and their Passion for France, explores the dramatically increasing importance of Japanese women artists in the current ascendency of contemporary Japanese ceramics on a global stage and focuses on how their relationships to France have influenced, and indeed enabled, the five show-cased artists to find their unique voices. Stifled at one time or another by Japan’s restrictive view in the role of women and the lack of freedom with regard to their career choices, especially in the arena of ceramics, these committed female artists have successfully overturned such limitations by choosing to train/study/work/live abroad, particularly in Paris. Maintaining professional and personal contacts with both countries, they have managed to succeed in ways unavailable to their male colleagues.

By Nami Hoppin
An exhibition at the Joan Mirviss Gallery in New York explores the dramatically increasing importance of Japanese women artists on
the global stage.

New York City - "The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and Their Passion for France" is at Joan B. Mirviss Ltd through August 3. An exhibition of incredible sculptures by Futamura Yoshimi, Katsumata Chieko, Nagasawa Setsuko, Ogawa Machiko and Sakurai Yasuko seeks to expose the very nature of clay, exploiting its flexibility and suppleness in arresting ways.

"Women ceramists in Japan often confront insurmountable barriers when pursuing their career in an artistic industry regulated by an entrenched succession system of craftsmen transferring skills (and businesses) to their male heirs. Many women ceramists, disenfranchised by the rigid patriarchal system, opt to leave home to hone their craft and build their oeuvres abroad. Impressive works by five Japanese women who have done just that are currently the focus of an enlightening exhibition at the Joan B Mirviss Gallery, an exquisite space in the Upper East Side of New York. The well-crafted show, titled "The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and Their Passion for France," showcases works by Futamura Yoshimi, Katsumata Chieko, Nagasawa Setsuko, Ogawa Machiko, and Sakurai Yasuko – all established their reputation through their shared love for France."

Now on view at Joan Mirviss Gallery are "The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramicists and a Passion for France" and "Guided by the Brush". The exhibits present the work of five leading female ceramic artists and the work of a 99 year-old calligrapher and painter whose worldwide successes stand out in their male-dominated fields. The show runs through August 3rd at the Upper East Side Gallery.

For centuries, women in Japan were not even permitted to touch a kiln, lest their "impurity" taint whatever was baking. Yet in the past decade, women clay artists have come to outnumber men in Japan's art schools, and the next generation of master ceramists is shaping up to be disproportionately female.

"Ceramics and calligraphy—considered Japan’s most significant art mediums—traditionally have been male-dominated art forms, and only recently have women been allowed to pursue these areas of study and apprenticeship. A new exhibit in New York will celebrate the work of five Japanese female ceramists and the country’s leading female calligrapher, who is 99 years old. Their work is being presented from June 5 through August 3 at the Joan B. Mirviss gallery in exhibits entitled 'The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and a Passion for France' and 'Guided by the Brush.' "

"This exhibition titled THE FRENCH CONNECTION: FIVE JAPANESE WOMEN CERAMISTS AND THEIR PASSION FOR FRANCE, explores the dramatically increasing importance of Japanese women artists in the current ascendency of contemporary Japanese ceramics on a global stage and focuses on how their relationships to France have influenced, and indeed enabled, the five show-cased artists to find their unique voices. Stifled at one time or another by Japan’s restrictive view in the role of women and the lack of freedom with regard to their career choices, especially in the arena of ceramics, these committed female artists have successfully overturned such limitations by choosing to train/study/work/live abroad, particularly in Paris. Maintaining professional and personal contacts with both countries, they have managed to succeed in ways unavailable to their male colleagues. These women have come to this life-style via varied routes, some working exclusively in France while others have studios in both countries and still another works exclusively in Kyoto after years in Limoges. Spanning two generations, these five women reflect the changes occurring both in Japan and in the field internationally. But all are clearly pioneers especially when in viewed from an historical perspective."

"Joan Mirviss and Alison Tolman are pleased to announce their collaboration on two important exhibitions being held simultaneously at Joan B Mirviss LTD. Guided by the Brush and The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and their Passion for France shine a spotlight on pioneering Japanese women in two distinct artistic media: ink painting and clay. Together these two exhibitions offer insights into the power and range of achievement by these accomplished women, artists who stand on the world stage and whose works can be found in major museum collections across the globe."

Ceramics and calligraphy—considered Japan’s most significant art mediums—traditionally have been male-dominated art forms, and only recently have women been allowed to pursue these areas of study and apprenticeship. A new exhibit in New York will celebrate the work of five Japanese female ceramists and the country’s leading female calligrapher, who is 99 years old. Their work is being presented from June 5 through August 3 at the Joan B. Mirviss gallery in exhibits entitled 'The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and a Passion for France' and 'Guided by the Brush.' "

" Ceramics and calligraphy—considered Japan’s most significant art mediums—traditionally have been male-dominated art forms, and only recently have women been allowed to pursue these areas of study and apprenticeship. A new exhibit in New York will celebrate the work of five Japanese female ceramists and the country’s leading female calligrapher, who is 99 years old. Their work is being presented from June 5 through August 3 at the Joan B. Mirviss gallery in exhibits entitled 'The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and a Passion for France' and 'Guided by the Brush.' "

"Ceramics and calligraphy—considered Japan’s most significant art mediums—traditionally have been male-dominated art forms, and only recently have women been allowed to pursue these areas of study and apprenticeship. A new exhibit in New York will celebrate the work of five Japanese female ceramists and the country’s leading female calligrapher, who is 99 years old. Their work is being presented from June 5 through August 3 at the Joan B. Mirviss gallery in exhibits entitled 'The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and a Passion for France' and 'Guided by the Brush.' "

**MARK YOUR CALENDAR**
Soaring Voices: Recent Ceramics by Women From Japan, the seminal exhibition which has been touring since 2009, will have its final installation at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Schaefer International Gallery in Hawaii.

October 20, 2012 - January 6, 2013

Symposium Panel in Castle Theater
Sunday, October 21st
9 am - 3 pm
Guest speakers include: Joan Mirviss, David Kuraoka (moderator), Hiroko Miura (Curator of Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park), Maya Nishi, Anne Morse (Senior Curator of Japanese Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Halsey and Alice North.

Guided by the Brush: Paintings and Lithographs by SHINODA Toko and The French Connection: Five Japanese Women Ceramists and their Passion for France.

"Unfamiliar landscape prints by familiar names – mainly Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige – dominate this lavish show, and their superb condition has kept the colors strikingly vivid. The grandly descriptive can turn grandly abstract on a dime, especially when Hokusai tackles waterfalls in vertical formats. Also noteworthy are the prints of his lesser-known cotemporary Keisai Eisen, whose inclination to give tumbling water the solidity of nearby rocks has a bracing visionary force."
- R. Smith

"The overall exuberance and acquisitive atmosphere were reminiscent of Asia Weeks of the late 1990s," said Joan Mirviss, who reported that the response from collectors and enthusiasts to her exhibition "Approaching the Horizon: Important Japanese Prints from the Collection of Brewster Hanson" was exhilarating. "By the close of Asia Week's openhouse weekend, we had sold nearly 60% of the exhibition (which included sixty-eight prints). In terms of attendance and participation, this year's Asia Week was tremendous and far exceeded those in recent memory."

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=54447[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

New York City - In Conjunction with Asia Week New York, Joan B. Mirviss Ltd is presenting "Approaching the Horizon: Important Japanese Prints from the Collection of Brewster Hanson," an exhibition of particularly fine impressions of some of the most coveted designs of Hiroshige, including masterworks by Hokusai, Eisen and Yoshitoshi.

excerpt:
"At the Joan B. Mirviss gallery on the Upper East Side, the dealer is selling the collection of Brewster Hanson, a lifelong fan of Japanese art, who died in 2008. At the time Hanson was collecting prints, his tastes were supposedly more Japanese than European, meaning he obtained many rare, top-quality prints without competition, according to Mirviss. However, the pendulum has swung, it seems. Before the show even opened Mirviss reported that half of the catalogue had been sold, mostly the more expensive (and more rare) prints."

New York never lacks for art, but as spring approaches, movable feasts of it seem to arrive in waves. Last week nearly a dozen fairs put exra servings of contemporary and Modern art on the table. Friday is the official beginning of Asia Week, a visual repast of more than 40 shows staged by New York and out-of-town dealers and spread mostly through galleries around the Upper East Side, on or just off Madison Avenue.

Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. 19 March - 13 April
This is an exhibition of particularly fine impressions of some of the most coveted designs of Hiroshige, including masterworks by Hokusai, Eisen and Yoshitoshi. Prints from the Brewster Hanson Collection were assembled from acquisitions made around the world.

"Asia Week New York 2012 retains a similar format to that seen last year and again comprises dozens of special events and exhibitions. The ‘Asia Week’ group (AWNY) is made up of more than thirty galleries, and involves five auction houses – Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Doyle New York and iGavel – and several museums and Asian cultural institutions (16-24 March; for further information and a detailed calendar and map of events, see www.asiaweekny.com). "

"With each successive year, Asia Week New York grows bigger and better. In 2012, no fewer than five auction houses will offer relevant sales of artworks and artifacts from China, Korea, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia, and 17 museums and other institutions will offer special programming. Indeed, the festivities cannot fit within a single week—Asia Week New York officially starts on March 16 and continues through March 24."

"Each year, more and more designers and their clients recognize how well Asian art and antiques complement diverse interiors. According to Joan Mirviss, a Japanese art specialist and participant in Asia Week New York, both private clients and professional designers are placing Japanese screens, ceramics, and woodblock prints in very different interiors-those with English or French eighteenth-century furnishings as well as one with Modernist or contemporary furniture. Says Mirviss: 'The purity of line, the expression of asymmetry, the focus on simplicity, the remarkable palette-all these elements make Japanese art and antiques such becoming counterparts to nearly every style of interior design.' "

A touring exhibition including our artists: Fukumoto Fuku, Fujino Sachiko, Katsumata Chieko, Kishi Eiko, Kitamura Junko, Koike Shoko, Mishima Kimiyo, Sakurai Yasuko, Shimizu Sachiko and Tashima Etsuko.

Winter Antiques Show - The Evolution of Taste p.7

Western and Japanese potters have influenced one another at least since the 1940s. Artisans on various continents have painted Pop Art checkerboards on traditional tea-bowl forms and used ancient raku firing techniques on jokily unusable perforated vases. “Conversations in Clay — West Meets East: A Collector’s Perspective,” an exhibition through Jan. 6 at the Joan B. Mirviss gallery in Manhattan, pairs about 30 Japanese pieces from the gallery’s inventory with American and European counterparts (with prices mostly a few thousand dollars each).

Learn about collecting from this leading dealer who will provide perspective on the history of collecting Japanese prints in the United States and Europe from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. Mirviss will also compare past and present standards of connoisseurship and offer guidelines for today’s collector.

Work shop on December 3rd, "Guided Tour through the Methods for Identification, Authentication, and Connoisseurship of Ukiyo-e Prints.

NEW YORK, N.Y.- For the first time since Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. began representing Japanese ceramics in the mid '80s, Western artists will be presented together with their Japanese counterparts in this intimate exhibit entitled Conversations in Clay – West Meets East: A Collector's Perspective. The show, curated by Steven Korff in collaboration with Joan Mirviss, finds its inspiration in Korff's integrated collection of ceramic art that includes important artists from both backgrounds, from Hamada Shôji to Hans Coper, Carlo Zauli to Akiyama Yô.

"Joan B. Mirviss Ltd is presenting "Fired by Tradition: Masterworks by Nishihata Tadashi" through July 29, featuring a completely fresh body of work by this Tanba master. Based in the riverside town of Tachikui in Hyogo Prefecture, home to the medieval ceramic center of Tanba, Tadashi (b 1948) works in the centuries-old traditions of his ancestors. As one of the six ancient kilns of Japan, Tanba has long been celebrated for its simple storage jars, vases and sake implements made from the local iron-rich clay and fired either unglazed or with natural and applied ash glazes.

This beautifully curated show, subtitled "Pioneers of Japan's Sodeisha Ceramic Movement," celebrated the work of three artists who were the guiding lights of Japan's avant-garde ceramists. Yagi Kazuô (1918-79), Suzuki Osamu (1926-2001) and Yamada Hikaru (1923-2001) were founders of Sôdeisha ("Crawling Through the Mud Association"), a pottery collective formed in Kyoto in 1948. Until then, the country's venerable ceramics traditions focused on tea bowls, jars, and other utilitarian objects.

The 14th annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair at the Park Avenue Armory enjoyed steady crowds and sales, from the well-attended vernissage on April 13 straight through its four-day run, which ended on Sunday, April 17. An estimated 2000 persons attended Opening Night throughout the course of the evening, and an after-preview benefit dinner in the Armory's Tiffany Room for the Museum of Arts & Design (MAD) honoring Judy Cornfield was a sell-out. MAD also sponsored the new MAD Den Video Lounge designed by NY architect/designer David Ling, adding yet another media to the stimulating mix of art and design at the fair.

One newer area of collection development is contemporary Japanese ceramics, an art form that complements our significant and well-respected Van Vleck Collection of Japanese Prints. Japan has a centuries-old ceramics tradition, renowned for both beauty and innovation, and potters there continue to produce some of the most striking and influential pottery in the world. Joan Mirviss, an alumna of the UW-Madison's Department of Art History, is an expert and dealer in Japanese art; one of her specialties is contemporary ceramics.

Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd, will present a major solo show of internationally acclaimed artist Akiyama Yo (b 1953) who lives, works and teaches in Kyoto, Japan. This exhibition, on view April 18-May 20, will be Japan's highly acclaimed artist's second in the United States.

"Tension and Transition" includes more than ten sculptural clay works created for this presentation. Though using a basic stoneware clay, Akiyama's aesthetic pushes past any traditional concepts for ceramics; his art has much more in common with the work of contemporary sculptors like Richard Serra than the utilitarian ceramics for which Kyoto is historically known.

At that same masterly level, a hand-thrown group of remarkably sculpted, unglazed stoneware by Kyoto's Akiyama Yo at Joan B. Mirviss Gallery of New York, made it almost worth the $25 price of general admission. Suffused with iron powder and vinegar, the wheel-thrown pieces undergo an ever-changing patina of corten-steel like rusty colors as they oxidize. It makes one think of Richard Serra, but on a smaller and safer scale.

Collectors, curators, scholars and Asian art enthusiasts from around the world convened for Asia Week New York 2011 in March—nine days of exhibitions, private sales, public auctions, special events and fund-raising, spending more than $250 million on Asian art. Complementing Asian exhibitions at 18 New York-area museums and cultural institutions were thousands of ancient through contemporary Asian works of art at 5 leading auction houses and at the venues of 34 Asian art specialists exhibiting in New York. Dealers from the U.S. and abroad reported double and triple the attendance over last year with strong sales to collectors and institutions based in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and mainland China with many works on reserve by museums.

Asia Week New York 2011 sales highlights include:

In the hours following the March 11 earthquake in northeast Japan, the New York-based nonprofit Japan Society launched an earthquake relief fund. Since then, donations to the fund have come in bit by bit from all corners of the city.

Nahoko Sugiyama and Kashimi Asai, alumnae of Dance New Amsterdam, organized a benefit dance performance with other graduates on March 20. The organization donated the theater space and the technical crew donated their time. The dancers donated $4,070 on Wednesday.

DJ Tadaaki Iwaki and pop-and-lock street dance performer Kenichi Ebina organized a performance and contributed $3,398; a stoop sale and bake sale held by Japanese moms in Brooklyn raised $3,800; a swing dance group organized by Japanese women held a "Swing for Japan" fund-raiser and contributed $5,700 to the fund.

It's hard to think about art in the face of nightmarish human tragedy. As Japan attempts to get back on its feet after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, news on the nation's contemporary structures and historic sites trickles in. Eiji Mizushima of the Japan committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has sent out e-mail updates as information becomes available.

Since its opening on March 16 for Asia Week New York 2011, "Birds of Dawn: Pioneers of Japan's Sôdeisha Ceramic Movement," the exhibition currently on view at Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. at 39 East 78th Street, has been attracting tremendous attention from collectors, curators, the media and the public-at-large. The show focuses on the three seminal founders of the extremely influential Sôdeisha ceramic movement: Yagi Kazuo (1918-79), Suzuki Osamu (1926-2001), and Yamada Hikaru (1923-2001).

ASIA has been even more in the forefront of the public conversation since the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and continuing nuclear radiation fallout. The conversation reaches near fever pitch on an upbeat note as New York hosts two important Asian-themed art bazaars. Both have added "Help Japan" components. The rechristened Asia Week New York continues through Saturday (26 March), while Asian Contemporary Art Week commences at 7 tonight at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) with the film series, “Modern Mondays: An Evening with Mariam Ghani.”

Acting in an unprecedented collaboration, more than 30 prominent Asian art specialists, 5 auction houses and 18 museums and Asian cultural institutions in the metropolitan New York City area will join forces to present Asia Week New York 2011, taking place from March 18-26.

Not so long ago Manhattan’s annual spring Asia Week was feeling diminished. The Asian Art Fair had folded. Gallery shows were scattered around town. Collective energy was low. Not so long ago Manhattan’s annual spring Asia Week was feeling diminished. The Asian Art Fair had folded. Gallery shows were scattered around town. Collective energy was low.

More than 60 works from Japan’s Sôdeisha Ceramic Movement will be on display at New York’s Joan B. Mirviss Ltd art gallery on East 78th Street from March 16 through April 29 to coincide with Asia Week New York 2011. The exhibition, titled Birds of Dawn, showcases the unique work of artists Yagi Kazuo, Suzuki Osamu, and Yamada Hikaru.

While Japan struggles to recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, artists and arts organizations around the world are coming together in a show of support for the island nation. Japan-related events in New York as part of this month's Asia Week are being recast as tributes or fundraisers for earthquake victims, while artists in various countries are coming up with creative ways to respond to the disaster and raise needed funds for the victims and their families.

New York Asia Week, launched by the auction houses in the early 1990s, presumes that people who are interested in Tibetan sculpture might somehow also be interested in Malaysian batik and Chinese contemporary. Twenty years on, this fiction is stronger than ever, perhaps because it's fun, the idea of looking at art made during the past three millennia on the world's largest and most populous continent.

Over ten years in the making, Joan Mirviss Ltd presents “Birds of Dawn: Pioneers of Japan’s Sôdeisha Ceramic Movement,” which opens on March 16, 2011, at 39 East 78th Street in New York.This exhibition, which coincides with Asia Week New York, will focus on three seminal founders of this extremely influential movement: Yagi Kazuo (1918-79), Suzuki Osamu (1926-2001), and Yamada Hikaru (1923-2001). More than sixty works by this Kyoto triumvirate will be on view and offered for sale.

Asia Week gets off to an auspicious start March 18 with an elegant reception at the Asia Society. Then, over the course of nine days, 34 Asian art dealers—along with the Asia Society, Japan Society, Rubin Museum, China Institute and the auction houses Bonham’s, Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Doyle New York and iGavel—will present exhibitions, lectures, discussions, sales, concerts, films and a gala benefit reception and dinner, with everything open to the public. The range is astonishing.

Asia Week New York 2011 is an unprecedented collaboration among Asian art specialists, 5 auction houses and 18 museums and Asian cultural institutions in the metropolitan New York area from March 18-26, 2011. Simultaneous exhibitions presented by 34 prominent Asian art dealers from the U.S and abroad, auctions at Bonhams, Christie's, Sotheby's, Doyle New York and iGavel, as well as dozens of special events are planned for this period.

Incorporating five auction houses and 17 museums and Asian cultural institutions, this year's Asia Week also showcases specially-curated exhibitions at nearly three dozen galleries. In addition, the Japan Society is pleased to announce the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. The Japan Society has created a disaster relief fund to aid victims of the Tohoku earthquake in Japan. Over the years, Japan Society has partnered with several Japanese and American nonprofits working on the frontlines of disaster relief and recovery. 100% of your generous tax-deductible contributions will go to organization(s) that directly help victims recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan on March 11, 2011.

Over ten years in the making, Joan Mirviss Ltd presents "Birds of Dawn: Pioneers of Japan's Sôdeisha Ceramic Movement," which opens on March 16, 2011, at 39 East 78th Street in New York. This exhibition, which coincides with Asia Week New York, will focus on three seminal founds of this extremely influential movement: Yagi Kazuo (1918-79), Suzuki Osamu (1926-2001), and Yamada Hikaru (1923-2001). More than sixty works by this Kyoto triumvirate will be on view and offered for sale.

Over ten years in the making, Joan Mirviss Ltd presents “Birds of Dawn: Pioneers of Japan’s Sôdeisha Ceramic Movement,” which opens on March 16, 2011, at 39 East 78th Street in New York. This exhibition, which coincides with Asia Week New York, will focus on three seminal founders of this extremely influential movement: Yagi Kazuo (1918-79), Suzuki Osamu (1926-2001), and Yamada Hikaru (1923-2001). More than sixty works by this Kyoto triumvirate will be on view and offered for sale.

"With their non-traditional avant-garde approach favoring sculptural ceramics, the art of Suzuki Osamu, Yagi Kazuo and Yamada Hikaru has always captivated me,” said Mirviss, who marks her thirty-fifth year as a specialist in the world of Japanese art. “About ten years ago, I started to think about the viability of an exhibition in New York that would include some of their important works,” she added. “Nothing like this has ever been staged anywhere– including Japan.” According to Mirviss, acquiring a significant body of major work by these celebrated masters was a task that required over two decades of networking in Japan.

The long history of the Kondô clan has the elements of a grand saga - a samurai's defense of the imperial court, the subsequent gift of a central piece of Kyoto real estate, and an eventual fall from grace - but, just as significantly, the family's story over the last century mirrors the evolution of the great artistic tradition of Japanese ceramics.

Continuing with her ongoing effort to present cutting-edge contemporary Japanese ceramics, this fall and winter Joan B. Mirviss Ltd will present three consecutive exhibitions illuminating the world of postwar contemporary ceramics in Japan.

"These three exhibitions represent over ten years of planning with careful negotiations and coordination with multiple Japanese sources. For a dealer anywhere to have one or possibly two works by any of these artists is rare enough, but to present such a large body of exceptionally rare material by these artists outside a museum is unprecedented," said Mirviss.

Joan B. Mirviss will present three consecutive exhibitions illuminating the world of post-war contemporary ceramics in Japan. This first show of over 40 works of art, focuses on the work of Kondô Yutaka (1932-83), a remarkable artist and gifted teacher who inspired many of today's established clay artists in Japan, who was the pivotal figure in his ceramic family before his untimely death. Drawn from the family's collection and offered for the first time, fourteen of his works will be seen in the context of his highly unusual heritage, both as a member of a Kyoto samurai family and as the son of the celebrated ceramist and designated Living National Treasure for cobalt blue-and-white (sometsuke) porcelain, Kondô Yûzo (1902-85).

Over the next four months the New York dealer Joan Mirviss is presenting a crash course in postwar Japanese ceramics throw three shows of objects rarely seen in this country and fresh to the market. "Kondô Yutaka: The transformation of a Kyoto Family," running from November 10 through December 17 at Mirviss's East 78th Street gallery, looks at three generations of the storied Kondô clan of ceramists.

Japanese porcelain with good provenance offer prime area for collectors, while the market for contemporary Japanese ceramics is heating up.

There's probably no better place to start collecting art than with ceramics. Comparatively, they are more economical to begin with. And just like prints and paintings, they are flexible even with themed decorating.

With several artists rising to become popular ceramics painters, there are several selections that are a good place to start a collection.

Conventional wisdom for the new collector used to be: "Start with prints and as you learn more, graduate to painting." Today, on the contrary, another approach is build an art collection by acquiring ceramics. A good place to begin is the current show of sparkling and richly detailed enameled porcelain of Jun Takegoshi at the Joan B. Mirviss LTD gallery on New York's Upper East Side. Takegoshi's (b.1948) polychrome enamel vessels won't send you to the bank for a second mortgage.

Dealers and galleries at the second annual SOFA WEST: Santa Fe 2010 held July 8-11 at the Santa Fe Convention Center reported steady sales, most to new clients from all over the United States. Overall fair attendance climbed to 12,000 from 10,000 persons last year. An estimated 1800 persons attended Opening Night on July 7, which was a special member preview for the prestigious Museum of New Mexico Foundation and SOFA VIPs.

While the Chelsea art world grinds to a halt and New York City swelters in 90-degree heat, the Santa Fe art district in marked contrast is surprisingly buoyant. A total of 250 galleries line the streets of the New Mexico state capital, and empty shop fronts are few...

A tension between the old and the new can also be seen in the conceptual ceramic art of Japanese artist, Akiyama Yo, represented by Manhattan's Joan B Mirviss, Ltd., long-time SOFA exhibitor in New York, but new to SOFA WEST. Widely considered to be one of the greatest ceramic artists living today, Akiyama was a member of the extremely influential Kyoto avant-garde group Sodeisha, which eschewed traditional Japanese ceramic functionalism in favor of modernist sculpture and contemporary abstraction. Mirviss says, "Akiyama's work is created with the theme of disintegration in nautre and how life returns to clay.

Fair City:
Santa Fe gears up for summer, its busiest season, with a packed schedule of art fairs and associated events.

After the tremendous upsurge in interest in contemporary art in 2006-2008, and the market doldrums of 2009, this year’s Asia Week has repositioned itself and was jointly organized by the Asia Society and the Asian Art Dealers of New York (AADNY).
AADNY hosted a reception at the Rubin Museum of Art on March 19, heralding the
official start of Asian Art Week.

Museum of East Asian Art (Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst)
Universitätsstraße 100, D-50674,
Cologne, Germany
Oct 31, 2009 To Jan 10, 2010

It is with a heavy heart that we note that ceramic artist Tokuda Yasokichi III, designated a National Living Treasure (NLT) in 1997, succumbed to pneumonia on August 26th at the age of 75.

 

Over the last several years there has been an increasing number of dealers who have chosen to abandon the International Asian Art Fair and to exhibit independently in several locations in New York, principally on the Upper East Side. This year, with the International's cancellation, leaving those exhibitors without a venue, and the relocation of the Arts of Pacific Asia Show to new quarters on West 34th Street, a certain level of reorganisation was needed, a situation compounded by the existing economic uncertainty.

Surimono: Poetic Allusion in Japanese Prints
Museum Rietberg Zürich

It is with tremendous sadness that we note the tragic, unexpected death on September 7, 2008 of our beloved artist, Wada Morihiro, at age 63.

This exhibition will mark Joan Mirviss' first anniversary in her Madison Avenue gallery. Kaneta Masanao, born in 1953, is an 8th generation potter at Hagi, one of the greatest of the traditional Japanese kilns. The old Japanese adage is Raku first, Hagi second, Karatsu third. Like the pottery tradition at Satsuma, the Hagi tradition began with potters brought from Korea after Hideyoshi's invasion of that country and, like the early Satsuma wares and others, the Korean potters at Hagi produced wares for the Tea Ceremony. 

Asia Week in New York is neatly topped and tailed this year. Launching the events is the International Asian Art Fair, which moves both dates and venue to show from 15 to 19 March at the newly refurbished 583 Park Avenue, a handsome red-brick Georgian-style landmark building two blocks south of the fair's previous home in the Armory. Lingering on beyond the saleroom auctions is a glorious array of dealer shows, which now contribute so much to the diversity and quality of Asian art, old and new, in the city.

(Download full article: pdf)

For many years, Joan has been known as a private dealer with respected expertise in Japanese screens, paintings, wood prints and contemporary and modern ceramics. In her new gallery, opened this year to accommodate requirements for established and new collectors, she has organized this exhibition as a subject-specific show of not just contemporary ceramics, but works by today's leading women ceramic artists.

No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone." So wrote T.S. Eliot in his classic essay, "Tradition and the Individual Talent." Eliot claimed that rather than existing in conflict with tradition, an individual artist gains significance only through strenuous engagement with it. Not surprisingly, Eliot's views remain controversial, but his belief seems strikingly relevant to the extraordinary show of Japanese contemporary ceramics recently on exhibit at New York's Japan Society.

Ever since the 19th-century English designer Christopher Dresser picked up a deliberately rough Japanese tea bowl and wrote in ecstasy about the beauty of its texture compared with the sleek industrial finish of Western ceramics, there has been some understanding in the West of Japanese ceramics. This is growing now, fueled in part by the strong market for sculptural ceramics ("craft" is a word best avoided) in the US and Europe.

Joan B. Mirviss calls herself a contrarian. So perhaps it is not surprising that she has just opened a gallery in Manhattan, even as rising rents increasingly cause antiques dealers to close their shops and sell privately. For the last 30 years, Ms. Mirviss has been a pioneering dealer in Japanese fine art and antiques. She has also been the curator of several museum exhibitions on Japanese art, including one in 1995 at the Phoenix Art Museum showing Frank Lloyd Wright's collection of surimono, privately published woodblock prints.

Ancient Japanese screens, woodblock prints, scrolls, bronzes and contemporary ceramics by leading contemporary artists are on view in the exhibit "Views from the Past, Visions of the Future: Masterworks of Japanese Art." The show marks the inaugural exhibition at the newly opened Joan B. Mirviss Gallery.

The owner of a gallery selling Japanese art that is opening in two weeks on 78th Street at Madison Avenue is backing into her new project. Joan Mirviss, a private dealer of Japanese fine art in America, Japan, and Europe will be turning her art dealing business, Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., into a gallery. "I'm doing everything backwards, as I always have done," the Japanese specialist of 30 years said. "this is a new challenge."

Until now, Ms. Mirviss and her staff, three women all with museum experience, worked out of an apartment overlooking Central Park. There has built up a distinguished international clientele largely through exhibitions in other galleries around the country and at major fairs. these clients include some 50 of the world's top museums.

On 17 September, Joan B. Mirviss, a well-known private dealer in Japanese art, is opening a gallery at 39 East 78th Street in New York. The inaugural exhibition of around 55 works, 'Views form the Past, Visions of the Future: Masterworks of Japanese Art,' will be on view until 15 October. Displayed will be screens and paintings, many from old Japanese private collections, as well as woodblock prints and a range of ceramics, both from the second half of the 20thh century and contemporary works created specifically for the show. On behalf of Orientations, Margaret Tao interviewed Mirviss about the Japanese art field and her new gallery.

To prepare the space for her first-ever gallery, opening this month on New York's Madison Avenue, Japanese art specialist Joan Mirviss had it blessed by a Buddhist monk.

Antiques dealer Joan B. Mirviss has been intrigued by Japanese art since her youth. "As a typical American child of the 1950s and 60s, I didn't have the opportunity to travel to Asia or Europe. However, I always had a fascination with things Japanese." As a university student in 1973 she studied ceramics in Japan and visited famous production centers such as Mashiko. While Japan is crowded with crafts from lacquer to textiles and dolls, it was ceramics that won her heart.