Wright Auction

In 1954, maverick ceramist Peter Voulkos founded the now-legendary ceramics department at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and among his first group of students were John Mason, Paul Soldner, and a young Japanese-American man from Hawai’i named Henry Takemoto. Described by Janet Koplos in her book Makers: A History of American Studio Crafts as “the mystery man of the Otis gang,” Takemoto earned his Masters of Fine Arts in ceramics under Voulkos’ tutelage before going on to teach at many institutions between 1963 and 1995, including the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Montana State University, Missoula, Scripps College, the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, the California State University in Los Angeles (CSULA), and the Los Angeles High School for the Arts at CSULA. 

The present work is exemplary of his most impressive forms, a massive hand-coiled vessel replete with lush, pulsing decoration that evoke the flora and fauna of his native state.

The Otis school was strongly influenced by Pablo Picasso’s ceramics, none more so than Takemoto, who created vessels which he then treated as a canvas. The forms themselves, often coil-built, simple, rustic shapes, reflect the Japanese tradition of embracing imperfection, and his decoration was executed in engobe and slips of white, red, brown, or blue. The present work is exemplary of his most impressive forms, a massive hand-coiled vessel replete with lush, pulsing decoration that evoke the flora and fauna of his native state. His style of decoration has been described in a variety of ways including Miró-like and Minoan, and was praised by critic Edward Lebow as allowing the viewer’s mind to “rapidly shuttle from one to the other, alternating between comparing and marveling, moving and pausing.”

After graduating from Otis, Takemoto exhibited his work abroad and was awarded a Silver Medal in Belgium at the 2nd International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics. He also exhibited at the 3rd International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics in Prague as well as the American Studio Pottery exhibition (1968) at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Koplos notes that Takemoto joined the commercial design team at Interpace (International Pipe and Ceramics) in the early 1960s without ever having been featured in a solo catalog, which led to his work being less documented than that of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, his extraordinary creations hold an important place in the history of post war ceramics in the United States.