Kagami Kōzō

Kagami Kōzō ( Japanese 各 務 鉱 三 ; born March 7, 1896 in Gifu Prefecture ; died December 3, 1985 ) was a Japanese glass artist during the Shōwa period .

life and work

Kagami Kōzō graduated from the Tōkyō Higher Technical School in 1915 ( 東京 高等 工業 学校 Tōkyō kōtō kōgyō gakkō ) and became an employee of the South Manchurian Railway , where he conducted research into the manufacture of glass. In 1927 he enrolled at the Stuttgart School of Applied Arts, the forerunner of today's State Academy of Fine Arts , from which he graduated in 1929. He then continued to study under Wilhelm von Eiff , with the well-known glass artist Hanns Model (1908–1983) being one of his fellow students, with whom he was in lifelong contact.

In 1930 founded the "Kagami Research Institute for Crystal Applied Arts" ( 各 務 ク リ ス タ ル 工 芸 研究所 Kagami kurisutaru kōgei kenkyūjo ), where he developed scratching and cutting technologies. In 1934 he founded the “Kagami Crystal Factory” to produce crystal glass on a large scale. This work still exists to this day.

In 1932 the glass flower vase that Kagami showed at the Teiten exhibition was one of the honorable "Special Selection" ( 特 撰 Tokusen ). Afterwards, with the “Century of Progress” in Chicago in 1934, Kagami also became known at glass exhibitions abroad and won prizes. Kagami himself acted as a juror at Nitten shows and remained an advisor to them.

It is difficult to single out a single piece that represents Kagami's work, but one can perhaps cite his 1929 work entitled “Adorned Crystal Bowl 'Prayer'” ( ク リ ス タ ル 飾 り 皿 「祈 り」Kurisutaru kazarizara “Inori” ), one Work he did while studying in Germany. Another work is the "Ornamental Crystal Vessel " ( ク リ ス タ ル 飾 り 鉢Kurisutaru kazaribachi ) from 1960, for which he was awarded the Academy of Arts Prize. The cut glasses with cube-shaped patterns are one of Kagami's strong works.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Teiten ( 帝 展 ) is the abbreviation for the annual state art exhibition ( 帝国 美術展 覧 会 Teikoku bijutsu-in tenrankai ) between 1919 and 1935. After 1945 it was no longer state-owned in Nihon bijutsu-in tenrankai ( 日本美術展 覧 会 ), abbreviated Nitten ( 日 展 ), renamed.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Kagami Kōzō . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .

Web links

• Website with images of the work of Kagami Kōzō

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Kagami is the family name, Kōzō the first name.