Morino Taimei Hiroaki Ceramic Vase - Japan

Ceramic vase with a matte turquoise glaze and gold streaks.
The artist’s signature is engraved on the bottom.
Artist: Morino Taimei Hiroaki, born in 1934.
Japan, circa 1980, 24 x 17 cm – 7 cm opening.

Morino Taimei, born in 1934 in Kyoto, was accepted for the first time into the Nitten National Exhibition at a relatively young age in 1957 (one year before graduating from Kyoto City University of Arts).

In 1960, he received the prestigious Hokutosho Prize at the same National Exhibition.

In the early 1960s, he worked as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. Upon his return to Japan, his career began to take off with a second Hokutosho Prize at the Nitten, followed by the Governor’s Prize and other awards at the Gendai Kogei Ten (National Exhibition of Modern Crafts). He was then selected to exhibit at the National Museums in Kyoto and Tokyo in 1972 and was accepted into the first Nihon Togei Ten that same year.

Since then, his list of exhibitions and awards has continued to grow, with subsequent selections at the Tokyo and Kyoto art museums, as well as exhibitions in Paris, Italy, the United States, Canada, Denmark, and elsewhere.

In 2007, he received the Japan Art Academy Prize, an award carrying a significance comparable to the designation of “Living National Treasure” for an artist.

Morino’s works are primarily sculptural in geometric forms, with decoration applied sparingly using matte, multicolored glazes. Waves of undulating colors—horizontal or vertical—distinguish his works, which are enhanced with touches of gold or silver.

The two key influences on his style were his training under Kenkichi Tomimoto, where he acquired his decorative skills, and, secondly, his teaching at the University of Chicago’s art department in the mid-1960s, where he was inspired by the Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism of that period. This latter influence is clearly visible in many of his works.

Morino’s works are on display in many of the world’s most important museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; and the National Museum of Art in Tokyo.