Tokuda Yasokichi III, Yōsai tsubo "kōga" (Brilliant Glazed Jar "Galaxy"), ca. 2003, porcelain. The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection. © The Walters Art Museum, John Dean Photographer. 

Baltimore—The Walters Art Museum presents Designed for Flowers: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, Sunday, February 23–Sunday, May 11, 2014.  The exhibition displays a wide range of contemporary Japanese ceramic vessels produced for the traditional art of ikebana flower arranging. 

“With designs linked to long-standing Japanese traditions and contemporary artistic expression, the exhibition celebrates the works of many of Japan’s greatest living ceramic artists,” says Robert Mintz, chief curator and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Quincy Scott Curator of Asian Art at the Walters. “Comprised almost exclusively of vases drawn from the Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection, the exhibition explores the ways contemporary ceramic artists have met the challenge of producing vessels as supports for flowers.”

Responding to Japan’s ikebana flower arranging traditions and to the distinctive design aspects of the Japanese interior, ceramics in Designed for Flowers: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics reveal the beauty and power that has distinguished Japan’s contemporary ceramic artists.

The exhibition celebrates the gift from Betsy and Bob Feinberg to the Walters of contemporary Japanese ceramics. It has been generously supported by The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Friends of the Asian Collection of the Walters Art Museum, the Bernard Family, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas W. Hamilton, Jr., and The Edward Clark Wilson Fund for Asian Art.

Hayashi Shōtarō, Nezumi shino henko (Mouse Shino Vase), ca. 2003, stoneware. The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection. © The Walters Art Museum, John Dean Photographer

Fujino Sachiko, Hōgō 2010-1 (Petal 2010-1), 2010, stoneware. The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection. © The Walters Art Museum, John Dean Photographer

Kaneshige Kōsuke, Sei'I (Sacred Robe), ca. 1991, stoneware. The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection. © The Walters Art Museum, John Dean Photographer

Koike Shoko, Shiro no katachi (White Form), 2008, stoneware. The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection. © The Walters Art Museum, John Dean Photographer