Okabe Mineo

(1919-1990)

Considered one of the greatest Japanese clay artists of the twentieth century, Okabe Mineo (also known as Katō Mineo) was the son of the celebrated Katō Tōkurō (1898-1985) who worked in Seto. As a youth, he mastered techniques learned from his grandfather before entering ceramics school. Okabe's early works were created on the wheel in the refined styles of Korean Yi dynasty pottery and Chinese blue-and-white porcelains. In 1954, Okabe began to create hand-built ceramics that were embellished with impressed rope-marks like those seen in Jōmon ware. He later experimented with ash and iron glazes. Okabe's acclaimed body of work also includes powdery textured celadon and craquelure teabowls together with intensely colored sculptural Oribe and subtler Shino glazed works. His brilliant career led to numerous awards and prizes. As his work was coveted during his lifetime and his solo shows sold-out, commanding serious prices, there are few of his works in foreign institutional collections; a noteworthy recent exception is the Cleveland Museum of Art.