Suzuki Osamu 鈴木 治 1926-2001

Born in Kyoto, Japan

SUZUKI OSAMU has received tremendous recognition throughout Japan including a highly praised, enormous retrospective in 1999 that toured five major Japanese museums. As a co-founder of the avant-garde Sōdeisha group, he was dedicated to the creation of works independent from ancient types. The group was formed of like-minded artists who refused to exhibit at established studio craft competitions. At the time, this was nearly a heretical philosophy. Suzuki and his colleagues consistently strove to stand apart from traditional works, both stylistically and technically. By the mid-1950s, he focused on non-functional work. Suzuki's influence then and now remains huge, and he has been regarded for decades as one of the pioneers of avant-garde ceramic art. He worked both in porcelain and in stoneware. Combining Shigaraki clay, typically with a tooled surface, with iron slip and ash glaze in an oxidizing kiln, he created remarkable surfaces that changed as the light fell across them from different angles. His works have entered the collections of museums throughout the world.

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Brooklyn Museum, NY

The Cleveland Museum of art, Cleveland, OH

Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, Japan

Ikenobo Society of Floral Art, Kyoto, Japan

Kitamura Museum, Kyoto, Japan

Kodama Museum of Art, Japan

Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Japan

Kyoto Prefectural Sogo-Shiryokan, Japan

Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN

Musée Magnelli de la céramique, Vallauris, France

Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres, France

Musée Tomo, Tokyo, Japan

Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy

Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan

National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, Japan

Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

Portland Art Museum, OR

Seattle Art Museum, WA

Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga, Japan

Shiseido Art House, Japan

Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA

Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS

Takamatsu Municipal Museum of Art, Japan

Tokushima Prefectural Art Museum, Japan

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK