Philadelphia Antiques Show 2018

21 Darrel Sewell, The Poetry of Clay: The Art of Toshiko Takaezu (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004), 6. 22 G. Daniel Massad, Painting of Clay: Toshiko Takaezu and the Abstract Expressionist Movement (Annville, PA: Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Lebanon Valley College, 2017), 14, 17. 23 Massad, 8; “Li-Mu,” Object Curatorial File, American Art Department, Philadelphia Museum of Art, accessed February 12, 2018. 24 Linda Preskitt, “Limu: Our Hawaiian Tradition,” Edible Limu… Gifts from the Sea, Botany Department, University of Hawaii, updated 2002, http://www.hawaii.edu/reefalgae/publications/ediblelimu/. 25 “Former visual arts professor Takaezu passes away at 88,” The Daily Princetonian , March 2011, http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2011/03/former-visual-arts-professor-takaezu-passes-away-at-88. 26 Sewell, Poetry of Clay , 3. F rom the beginning of her professional career in the 1950s, the works of Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011) took ceramic art in new directions. Shifting away from conceptions of ceramic works as primarily functional objects, Takaezu came to treat ceramics as dimensional canvases for her painted application of glaze. She developed new forms with which to work, and was particularly known for her closed vessel forms, made with a small aperture left at the top. Takaezu placed several small pebbles inside of each closed form that ring whenever the piece is moved, activating the sonorous quality of the ceramic medium. At over five feet tall, Li- Mu is representative of the large closed forms Takaezu developed later in her career as she began to work with larger kilns. 21 Takaezu used traditional glazing techniques like brushing, dripping, and applying glaze with her fingers in unconventional and bold ways, enriching the artistic languages developed by Abstract Expressionists like Robert Motherwell (1915–1991) and Franz Kline (1910–1962) by considering and applying them multidimensionally. 22 Her works skillfully combine the decorative and fine arts, uniting these sometimes disparate fields into singular, multifaceted objects. Though many of Takaezu’s forms remain untitled, she occasionally named pieces in Japanese, Hawaiian, or English, drawing on her Japanese heritage and childhood in Hawaii. 23 Li-Mu is the Hawaiian word for algae, several varieties of which formed an important part of the ancient Hawaiian diet. 24 The streaks and patterning on the piece are reminiscent of several of the edible varieties of the algae. Takaezu lived in the Philadelphia region for much of her adult life, teaching at Princeton from 1967 until 1992 and working from a studio in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. 25 The Museum first acquired Takaezu’s work in 1984 through a purchase with funds provided by the Women’s Committee that was sparked by the interest of Nancy McNeil. This acquisition fueled a close relationship between the artist and the Museum. In 2004, she was the sixth person to receive the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show Award for distinguished achievement, which coincided with an exhibition at the Museum celebrating Takaezu’s art and legacy. 26 The Museum continues to actively collect her work. In 2017, one of her bronze bells entered the collection and is currently on display in the Anne d’Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden. Toshiko Takaezu, American, 1922 - 2011 Li-Mu (Seaweed) 1993 Glazed stoneware 63 × 26 inches (160 × 66 cm) Purchased with the Hollis Fund for East Asian Art Acquisitions, 2005 2005-41-1 Toshiko Takaezu, Li-Mu W 125 W