
The Sodeisha group was founded by the artists Yagi Kazuo, Kano Tetsuo, Yamada Hikaru, Matsui Yoshisuke, and Suzuki Osamu in 1948. While the group’s members came and went over the years, Sodeisha remained at the forefront of Japanese ceramics for a total of 50 years. When considering the period as whole, however, we find that the first half of the group’s activities played a particularly important role in the Japanese ceramic world. Along with Sodeisha’s own works, this exhibition, focusing on the first 25 years of the group’s career, from 1948 to 1973, includes pieces by the Shikokai group and other figures associated with the avant-garde ceramic movement of the day. The show serves as a reexamination of Sodeisha’s activities, a group that played a key role in establishing Japanese avant-garde ceramics.
The Collection Gallery exhibits selected works of nihonga (Japanese-style painting), yōga (Western-style painting), prints, sculpture, crafts (ceramics, textiles, metalworks, wood and bamboo works, lacquers and jewelry) and photography from the museum collection. Also shown are outstanding and monumental works of modern art in Japan, as well as modern and contemporary European and American art.
Exhibition
The Kyoto Art World Comes of Age