Any new publication on Japanese ceramic art in English is a welcome addition to the few books on the subject. Like "Masterpieces of Modern Japanese Pottery from the Gisela Freudenberg Collection" currently showing in Frankfurt, Germany, many of these publications coincide with exhibitions and serve to educate the visitor on Japanese ceramic art information. This time the new tie-in book is from Germany, highlighting a private collection put together over three decades and now showing at the Museum fur Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany until Aug. 28.
"The Fascination of Ceramics/Masterpieces of Modern Japanese Pottery from the Gisela Freudenberg Collection" is divided, like the exhibition, into six thematic sections. These are "Masterpieces of Living National Treasures," "The Folk Kilns," "The Six-Old Kilns," "The Major Individualists," "Sculptural Ceramics," and "Painted Wares."
The hardcover publication has an austere Bizen vase on the cover -- the work of late living national treasure Toshu Yamamoto. This gives a taste of the choice of pots within the Freudenberg Collection, with most being sublime and moody chatou (tea wares.)