Taizo Kuroda Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Taizo Kuroda (1946 - 2021) is universally recognized as one of the most important Japanese ceramic artists. In 1966, as a young man, he traveled to Paris where a chance meeting with Tatsuko Shimaoka inspired him to travel to New York and finally to Quebec, where he became an apprentice to the ceramist Gaetan Beaudin. Read the full biography

Taizo Kuroda (1946 - 2021) is universally recognized as one of the most important Japanese ceramic artists. In 1966, as a young man, he traveled to Paris where a chance meeting with Tatsuko Shimaoka inspired him to travel to New York and finally to Quebec, where he became an apprentice to the ceramist Gaetan Beaudin. Over the next few years, Kuroda returned to Japan several times to study with Shimaoka, a leading figure recognized as Japan's living national treasure. In 1980, Kuroda finally returned to his homeland, where he opened his own studio and began to develop his own style. He is widely acclaimed as one of the most important masters of Japanese ceramic art. During the 1990s, deeply fascinated by the beauty of Chinese Song Dynasty and Korean Joseon Dynasty ceramics, Kuroda developed his distinctive white porcelain style. Kuroda's works are distinguished from traditional porcelains in that they are free of glaze. The artist felt that eliminating color and glaze allowed him to focus on form and technique, thus opening up further possibilities for exploration in a specific direction. Many of his pieces are subjected to careful browning, obtained thanks to the use of extremely fine sandpaper granules, which gives the surfaces a delicate softness capable of subtly reflecting light. The asymmetrical designs and small imperfections present in the ceramics are the hallmark of the artist's skilled hand in creating the works. The influence of Chinese and Korean traditions is clearly visible in Kuroda's elaborate works; however, he manipulates and develops the shapes, giving them his own style characterized for example by a long, thin neck, tapered base and exaggerated curves. The purity of white porcelain is notoriously difficult to achieve by hand, and over the years, Kuroda has perfected his techniques, repeatedly experimenting with shapes and probing the limits of his material. Some of his most distinctive works feature interruptions in the surface and jagged openings, which highlight the irregular lines of the vases.