Kondō Yutaka 近藤 豊 1932-1983

KONDŌ YUTAKA studied at Kyoto City University of Arts with two Living National Treasures: his father Kondō Yūzō (1902-1985), designated for sometsuke ware (cobalt blue-glazed porcelain) and Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963), who revolutionized Japanese ceramics as both artist and influential teacher. After graduating in 1955 and until his untimely death in 1983, Kondō also taught ceramic courses at the university. He drew inspiration from medieval Chinese, Korean, and Islamic ceramic aesthetics, which he studied first-hand during several trips abroad. Of these various techniques, the style of punch'ong ware from 15th-16th century Korea, characterized by a white liquid slip-inlay and a black glazed surface, became Kondō's signature aesthetic.

Selected Public Collections:

Cincinnati Art Museum, OH
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Indiana University of Art Museum, Bloomington, IN
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
Musée Tomo, Tokyo, Japan
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT