Theory of Art Creation 7 "Thoughts on Ogata Kenzan"

Kenzan, the younger brother of Ogata Korin, opened a kiln in Narutaki, Kenzan's hometown west of Kyoto, in 1699 at the age of 37, and began his career as a potter. It seems that Nonomura Ninsei (the second generation) Seiemon and Chohachi, who taught him the pottery techniques, participated as assistants at the kiln.

Ninsei's Omuro-yaki kiln, located close to Kenzan's, was already in decline. Ninsei may have had the intention of passing on the secrets of his pottery techniques to Kenzan, so that Kenzan's kiln would take over. Kenzan's works all retain the elegance that Ninsei would have preferred, but firing techniques would have been an especially important issue for him.

Rust-painted tea bowl with a landscape of a waterfall

When Kenzan opened his kiln, he did not focus on the magnificent wheel-throwing techniques of the first Ninsei, but instead painted various designs on the pottery, in an attempt to create a unique beauty that was different from the Momoyama pottery of the past. In other words, he was confident that he could go beyond simple succession. This is because Kenzan had an older brother, Korin, who was a genius painter. From there, the unique world of Kenzan pottery was opened up through the cooperation of the brothers.

While inheriting traditions is important, the aim of surpassing the predecessors is also important. The genius brothers were shrewd.

Looking at the tea bowls that have been passed down as Kenzan's work, most of them have simple shapes that could be considered as a base for painting, and he was not at all conscious of expressing the individual style of Hon'ami Koetsu. Kenzan had a tea bowl made with a simple shape as the base, painted a picture on it, and wrote a poem beside the picture, creating a new tea bowl with a literati style.

The Rust Painted Waterfall Landscape Tea Bowl and Spear Plum Tea Bowl are representative of Kenzan's works. It is assumed that Kenzan himself painted the pictures with rust paint and wrote the poems and hymns, but since the brushwork on the waterfall and spear plum is superior to the other works, it has also been pointed out that they may have been done by Korin.

Spear plum design tea bowl

Kenzan and his brother Korin seem to have been fond of plum blossoms, and Korin's Red and White Plum Blossom Screen is a masterpiece of the century. Kenzan also created many works that used plum blossoms as a motif. The colored tea bowl with a spear-shaped plum blossom motif shown here gives a somewhat gentle impression compared to the brushwork of the blue-and-white waterfall landscapes and plum blossom tea bowls, but one notices that the plum grove with its blooming red and white blossoms is painted in a fun rather than cool way. The old trees are painted with iron paint under the glaze, and the young branches and red and white flowers are painted over the top, resulting in a fired product that harmonizes well with the soft glaze surface of the base.

Colored tea bowl with a spear and plum design

Researchers point out that the signature "Kenzan" on the side of the foot matches handwriting written four years after the kiln was opened in Narutaki.

Unlike the tea bowl in the previous picture, this tea bowl is fired hard. The shape of the tea bowl is almost the same, but the body is bulging and the waist is rounded. Most of the plum branches depicted are spear plums, but it is interesting that the tip of the branch is cut off at the rim, and I feel that this intentional protrusion is a Rinpa style.

In addition to the iron-painted branches and buds, a plum blossom with buds is painted under the glaze with white paint, which is also a typical Kenzan attempt. There are many works with the same subject matter from his Narutaki period, but there are various ingenious ways to express them, which shows that he was devoting himself to the study of pottery techniques.

There are many of Kenzan's semi-cylindrical tea bowls remaining, but there seems to be a difference between the paintings on them, which are "good" and "not so good." Kenzan's tea bowls do not have a strong presence that makes them want to be the main attraction of the tea ceremony. Although they are supporting tea bowls, Kenzan's individuality naturally exudes them, and they have a relaxing and interesting quality that makes the viewer feel at ease.

It is very interesting that Kenzan emerged after Ninsei, who was an exceptional master. It was these two men who emerged in succession, and they produced some of the most representative tea bowls of the Edo period.