Kondō Yūzō

  • Exhibitions

  • biography

    Kondō Yūzō was the celebrated ceramist and designated Living National Treasure for cobalt blue-and-white (sometsuke) porcelain. This tradition, while derived from both Chinese Ming and Korean Yi dynasties’ material, is rooted in Japanese aesthetics in terms of its expressiveness and design. Yūzō's vigorous brushwork and bold patterning set his work apart and he became celebrated for specific imagery such as pomegranates, bamboo shoots, plum branches (his favorite motif) and landscapes executed primarily in underglaze cobalt blue sometimes enhanced with copper red and, later in his career, gold.

    1902 Born in Kyoto, the third son of Kondō Shōhei.
    1914 Studied under Hamada Shōji
    Graduated from Yasui School, Kyoto Municipal 
General Advanced Technical Ceramic School
    1917 Became a Staff member of Yasui School
    1921-24 Assistant to Kenkichi Tomimoto
    1924 Established a studio “Nennen-do” at Kiyomizu in Kyoto
    1935 Organized a craft association, “Sōjun-sha”
    Studied Arima wares in Fukushima
    1941 Studied ceramics in Korea
    1943 Studied Akahada ceramics in Nara
    1947 Juror for the Shinshô-kai
    1950 Juror for the Nitten
    1951 Submitted new work to International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza
    Demonstrated wheel techniques to the Emperor during his trip to Kyoto
    1952 Dedicated a flower vase with sometsuke painting of a pomegranate to Ise Shrine
    1953 Appointed Assistant Professor at Kyoto City University of Arts
    Juror for the Contemporary Japan Ceramic Competition
    1955 Juror for the Nihon Kogei Kai; Japan Ceramic Association
    1956 Studied Shino wares in Tajimi, Gifu
    1957 Resigned from the Nitten
    1958 Became Professor at Kyoto City University of Arts
    1963 Resigned from the Shinshō Kai
    1965 Appointed Dean of Kyoto City University of Arts
    Studied Tokoname wares in Aichi
    Studied Ohya wares in Tokushima
    1966 Appointed Advisory Board Member of National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
    1967 Studied ceramics in Iran
    1972 Appointed Advisory Board Member of Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
    1975 Produced the world's largest plate with plum blossom design
    1985 Died at age 83 on February 25th
    1987 The Kondō Yūzō Memorial Museum was established

    Awards:

    1939 Received the highest honors at 3rd Bunten
    1956 Received Gold Medal at the 3rd Traditional Japanese Craft competition
    1957 Received Silver Medal at Milan Triennale traveling show, Nihonbashi Takashimaya Art Gallery, Tokyo
    1970 Received the Medal with Purple Ribbon Medal
    1973 Awarded "The Order of The Secret Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon" prize
    1974 Awarded “The Person of Cultural Merit" prize by Kyoto City
    1977 Designated Living National Treasure for sometsuke
    1982 Designated as Honorary Citizen by Kyoto City
    1980 Received the Medal with Navy Ribbon

    Selected Public Collections:

    Aomori Museum of Arts
    Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, CA
    Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, DC
    Art Complex Museum Duxbury, MA
    Brooklyn Museum, NY
    Ibaraki Ceramic
    Kyoto City Museum of Art, Kyoto
    Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo
    Indiana University Museum of Art, IN
    Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
    National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
    National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
    National Museum of Tokyo
    New Orleans Museum of Art, LA
    University of Michigan Museum Art, MI
    Victoria & Albert Museum, London

  • Kondō Yūzō

    Kondō Yūzō

  • bio pt 1

    bio pt 1

    (1902-1985)

    Descended from a line of Kyoto samurai, KONDŌ YŪZŌ chose ceramics as his profession after finding inspiration in the clay traditions surrounding his family’s home near Kiyomizu Temple. He first studied at the Kyoto Ceramics Research Institute under the tutelage of Hamada before working under Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963) at his personal kiln, at which time Tomimoto became his mentor.

    Kondō sought to both work within and deviate from canonized sometsuke aesthetics. Accordingly, Kondō sought to work within traditional methods while deviating from the often pre-established themes characteristic of sometsuke. Instead, his designs were far more painterly and expressive than traditional images. His later works combined aka-e red overglaze and kinsai gold luster in the sometsuke style.

    Both a professor and later president of Kyoto City University of Arts, Kondō Yuzō was designated a Living National Treasure in 1977 for his blue-and-white porcelain.