Rosanjin Kitaoji - Quest for Japanese Beauty

Kahitsukan - Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art

Image: Rosanjin Kitaoji (1938)

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Kyoto-born artist Kitaoji started out in calligraphy and engraving and later created a large body of highly original works including ceramics, painting, lacquerware, and metalwork. He was also an avid epicure who made a name for himself around the country by establishing first-class dining clubs and tea houses frequented by politicians, financiers, and cultural authorities. The beauty of his ceramics came to be appreciated both in Japan and abroad, and in 1954 the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a “Rosanjin Exhibition.” Half a century after his death, the aesthetic tastes he brought into the world continue to be admired. This exhibition presents a careful selection of around 100 of Kitaoji’s works in five categories: pottery, calligraphy, tea, flowers and food. Celebrating a man who spent his entire life in pursuit of Japanese beauty and haute cuisine, these are works that bring a greater brilliance to the concept of utilitarianism.