The Art of Ogata Kenzan Persona and Production in Japanese Ceramics

Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) is Japan's most famous ceramic artist, and his work has had a far-reaching influence on the art of pottery, not only in Japan but, through Bernard Leach and his followers, the West as well. With his brother, the painter Korin, Kenzan was a member of the cultivated elite circle that transformed the world of Japanese design from the taste of a courtly few to a popular movement embracing every social class and encompassing all of the arts and crafts. Richard Wilson illuminates Kenzan's life and work simultaneously, tracing the phases of Kenzan's artistic and commercial development, their relationship to Japanese culture, and their bearing on the issues of authenticity and connoisseurship in Japanese art.