Rago Auctions

Considered a living legend in his native country, contemporary Japanese ceramic artist Shiro Tsujimura is widely revered as one of the best living potters to practice the craft. Tsujimura initially studied oil painting in Tokyo and, struggling with the medium, made a trip to Northern Japan where he lived in a Buddhist temple and studied Zen. It was through this experience that his focus moved to ceramics. Upon returning to Tokyo he visited the Japan Folk Crafts Museum where he saw an old tea bowl, which inspired his full dedication to the ancient medium.

Tsujimura built a kiln in 1970 and then, near it, his home. Over the coming years he built several more kilns and, following much experimentation, he held an exhibition at his home to great success. Since then, he has fired a wide variety of wares, including Iga, Shino, Kohiki, Oribe, Bizen, and Shigaraki. In this 2021 NHK Japan news special, we are given a glimpse into his home, studio, kiln, and artistic process, as well as interviews with the artist, his wife, and friends and collectors.

We are honored to present works from the Collection of Arthur J. Williams (1936–2021), a man who lived a life dedicated to, and surrounded by, the arts.

Williams began his career in the mailroom at CBS before working in production and editing TV advertisements. He founded Editing Concepts Inc. in 1970, of which he became Chairman of the Board, and was instrumental in expanding the company to six divisions all related to the film and video industry. He was a founding member of the Association of Independent Creative Editors and served as its president for a time. Williams’s success in the media world afforded him the freedom to follow his passion for the arts, and he became a respected member of the International Academy of Ceramics (Geneva, Switzerland) and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (Newcastle, Maine). Additionally, he was on the board of the Craft Alliance of the 52nd St. YWCA, where he curated a number of exhibits for the Elsa Mott Gallery, and he conceptualized the Museum of Ceramic Art - New York, an important virtual platform which celebrates the art of ceramics.  

“I am a clay addict. My fixes come in big and small, bright and demure and always quench my need temporarily. Or should I call it a sweet tooth that has a constant craving?...As a collector of clay objects, I am at once picky and open to what shares my home. An artwork has to show creativity, sparks of ingenuity and passion.”

A passionate collector and voracious reader, Williams remarked in a 2000 interview: “Educating oneself is the most exciting thing if not the most important aspect of collecting. Without knowledge, you can’t grow.” His genuine curiosity about art led him to acquire a diverse range of works from Chinese Export Ware and Pennsylvania Red Ware to sculptures by Chakaia Booker and contemporary ceramics from artists around the world. He found great joy in seeking out new pieces and in a note from his personal archive, we are given a wonderful glimpse into his thought process as a collector: “I am a clay addict. My fixes come in big and small, bright and demure and always quench my need temporarily. Or should I call it a sweet tooth that has a constant craving?...As a collector of clay objects, I am at once picky and open to what shares my home. An artwork has to show creativity, sparks of ingenuity and passion.” Williams had a prescient eye for art, especially of the clay variety, and assembled what became one of the most important, and comprehensive, contemporary ceramics collections of the present day.