The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics

This winter and continuing through much of next year, the Japanese galleries in the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art will focus on the work and artistic legacy of the great Japanese ceramic artist Ogata Kenzan (1663 - 1743). "The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics" runs from Dec. 9 through Oct.r 27, 2002 and showcases the Freer's collection of Kenzan-style ceramics—the largest collection outside Japan.

Easily identified and refreshingly original, the Kenzan "brand" continues to be interpreted and copied, much like Chanel suits and Gucci bags. On view are 10 objects by Kenzan himself, as well as almost 90 examples of Kenzan ware produced over subsequent centuries. These include fine pieces by acknowledged masters who perpetuated the Kenzan style—including his appointed successor, Ogata Ihachi—as well as imitations of varying quality including outright forgeries that were manufactured to satisfy late 19th-century collectors in search of the genuine article.

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) bought his first piece of Kenzan ware in 1894. Convinced by the expert Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1935), Freer believed that Kenzan ceramics represented "true Japanese taste" and over a period of 17 years acquired the nearly 100 Kenzan-style ceramics on view here. "The Freer's collection is so exhaustive that we can show and discuss the complete evolution of this style," says curator Louise Cort. Also on view are Freer's own copies of reference works on Japanese pottery by Morse, Augustus W. Franks (1826-1897) and Dr. Justus Brinckman (1843-1915).

Ogata Shinsei, or Kenzan as he became known, was the scholarly son of a wealthy textile merchant and spent his early adult years as a gentleman recluse. In 1699 he opened a workshop in a village northwest of Kyoto, from which he acquired the name "Kenzan" after the word that denotes the northwesterly direction—considered to be the source of strength and creativity. His bold and original works transformed the imagery of food dishes, tea ceremony utensils and objects for the scholar's desk and became an immediate sensation among the nobility and urban merchants. "Intended for daily use rather than for display, Kenzan ware ornamented people's lives," says Cort.

Although skilled in the art of ceramics, Kenzan was less a potter than a designer and workshop manager. The essence of his genius lay in his application of painting-like images onto the surface of ceramics, often creating the effect of a painted screen or scroll. Rather than reproducing flowers or abstract scenery, "Kenzan's references reached deeper than most potters and mined poetic and literary traditions," says Cort. Kenzan used classic emblems such as the iris, chrysanthemum, pampas grass or bamboo, to evoke poems, 10th-century stories like the Tales of Ise, and popular themes like that of the scholar recluse.

This exhibition clarifies the development of the Kenzan style by exploring its modes of decoration. Each grouping centers on objects created by the original Kenzan that established models for his successors. Issues of legitimate perpetuation, imitation and forgery are discussed.

Signature examples of Kenzan design include works that are closely related to:

• illustrations found in Chinese ink paintings
• "Rimpa"; a mode of decoration named after Kenzan's brother, Korin, in which large simplified plant forms are rendered in brilliant colors
• designs based on Chinese, Dutch and Thai ceramics and antique Japanese Oribe and Karatsu ware
• "Raku"; based on ceramic ware by that name using black or red glazes

Complementing the exhibition, in two adjacent galleries, visitors will find paintings, scrolls and screens from the Freer's rich collection of Rimpa art. Works outside the decorative Rimpa style but typical of movements that influenced Kenzan's style can also be seen. Included are works both by Kenzan, and by other masters such as his elder brother Ogata Korin (1658 - 1716)—after whom the Rimpa style was named—and Sakai Hoitsu (1761 - 1828). Hoitsu published a wood-block printed catalog of Kenzan paintings and ceramics that served as a source of designs for later potters working in the Kenzan style. In conjunction with the primary exhibition, the Freer Gallery will also issue The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics by Richard L. Wilson (Merrell Publishers, $50 hard cover, $34.95 soft cover). This publication, by the leading Kenzan scholar, includes 345 color and 120 black-and-white illustrations and re-assesses the entire body of Kenzan-style ceramic ware.

The Freer Gallery of Art (12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W.) and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (1050 Independence Ave. S.W.) together form the national museum of Asian art for the United States. The Freer also houses a major collection of late 19th and early 20th-century American art. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day except Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and admission is free. Public tours are offered daily. The galleries are located near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For more information, the public may call 202.357.2700 or TTY 202.357.1729, or visit the galleries' Web site at www.asia.si.edu.