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Image Not Available for Raku
Raku
Image Not Available for Raku

Raku

Artist (Japanese, 1912–1999)
Date1964
MediumJapanese lacquer, glue, and aluminum powder on board
Dimensions44 1/2 × 32 3/4 inches (113 × 83.2 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Gail and John Thomason
Terms
  • Paintings
  • Japanese
  • Lacquer
  • Board
Object number2012.033.001
Label CopyOne of the founding members of the Bokujinkai (Society of the People of Ink), Morita Shiryu was active in the avant-garde calligraphy movement in post-War Japan. His works range from purely gestural characters that are nearly undecipherable to abstracted calligraphy that still retains some legibility. He exhibited internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in the 1950s. Working with a very large brush, here he wrote the word Raku, referring to the famous tea ware made in Kyoto, where he lived. He innovated a way of writing that appeared to be made of gold lacquer, achieved by brushing the word using a silver metallic paint on black paper and then coating the surface with yellow varnish.
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