Fired with passion : contemporary Japanese ceramics /

Lurie and Chang offer a ceramic lover's view of Japanese ceramics, not a critical scholarly view, thus making this book a much easier "read" than other books on the subject. Focusing on post-1945 ceramics, the authors use the vast artistic history of Japan to explain the development of modern ceramics on its islands. A major emphasis is the influence of postwar societal changes in Japan on the traditional master/apprentice pottery-making tradition. These changes included the introduction of university ceramics classes that displayed a Western influence not before seen. Hayashi Yasuo's "Cloud" sculpture (1948), a pivotal shift from the classical forms of earlier masters, is included. The text is easy to follow; first, readers finally, contemporary ceramics is discussed and illustrated by geographic region. The works of specific artists are shown in beautiful photographs alongside brief biographical notes. Artists working in the styles of bizen, shigaraki, and oribe are included together with those respective styles, rather than in their geographic regions, due to the distinctive nature of those styles. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through professionals. W. Mitch Yung Evangel University

Lurie, a wealthy New York lawyer, is justifiably proud of his collection of modern Japanese ceramics, and with the help of Chang (director, Dai Ichi Arts), he has produced an opulent picture book that enables us to view his collection of approximately 150 works without trampling his carpets. High-quality, full-color photos of the pieces are interspersed with good to poor color photos of historical Japanese pieces from a variety of international museums in order to provide a context for appreciating the history of Japanese ceramics. A concise and informative caption of one or two paragraphs accompanies each photo. Unfortunately, the backgrounds of the photos have been digitally removed, which gives the ceramic pieces the appearance of hovering spacecrafts. Over all, this book serves as a good introduction for the general public and will delight art professionals. Appropriate for all libraries.-David McClelland, Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.