NEW YORK – A handful of artists have taken the material of clay to new heights. One of the most celebrated is Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011), whose ceramics are prized for their artistic skill and complex execution as well as their poetic surfaces.
Born in Hawaii, she worked in several mediums during her five-decade career, from painting and bronze sculpture to fiber art, but she is renowned for her ceramics and, in particular, what she called her “closed form” vessels.
These works have been likened to abstract paintings in the round. “Her gestural style, distinctive palettes, and complex layering of glazes align with the practices of Abstract Expressionists who were her contemporaries,” according to the website of the MFA Boston museum.
Her most famous closed-form sculptures were her Moon vessels, which are also her most coveted. A circa-1985 Moon vessel, having fine glazing all over in shades of purple and maroon, achieved an auction record for the artist of $430,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2023 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.
“This one had it all. Great provenance, excellent condition, great scale, iconic form, and killer glaze combination,” said David Rago of Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville, New Jersey, explaining that the record-setting Moon came from a Hawaiian collection of friends of the artist who were the sole owners of the piece before it was consigned for sale.
Describing her work as sublime, quiet, meditative, and Zen, Rago said, “I know of no other potter, possibly with the exception of Rose Cabat, who captured the moon pot form and played with it so successfully for so long. She found many variations on the theme beyond how she chose to color them. There is a Zen quietude she captured in clay and in the way she decorated the vessels.”
Takaezu’s Moon vessels were all unique, and occasionally, she would place a clay bead wrapped in paper inside one so it would make a rattling sound when moved. A Spring Moon with an embedded rattle brought $140,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2023 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.
“Works at this level are one in 500, maybe? She just didn’t go here that often. I think, when she made something like this, because of all the time and effort put into it, she really just WENT for it,” Rago said, citing Spring Moon’s variation of form, excellent scale, and wonderful glaze combinations. The piece, which was shown at a key Chicago exhibition on the Navy Pier in 2000, also had fine provenance and was in great condition.
Moon vessels range in size as well as color, with some of the largest measuring about 30in. A circa-1970 Full Moon vessel, distinguished by its leaf-like fine glazing design, took $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2021 at Los Angeles Modern Auctions.
Interest in Toshiko Takaezu has remained strong since her death in 2011, and 2024 brought two concurrent museum exhibitions focused on her, one at the MFA Boston and the other at the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in Long Island City, New York. Collectors’ interest has only grown across time. Rago first started offering Takaezu’s work in the 1980s and once bought personally from the artist in her New Jersey studio. But in 2023 alone, the auction house sold about 200 Takaezus.
“The market for her work, in general, is insane. The record at auction for anything by Toshiko, up until 11 months ago, was about $30,000,” Rago said. “We sold one piece last April [the aforementioned Moon] for $540,000 [including the buyer’s premium], and we’ve sold 15-20 pieces for more than $30,000 since then, and a number have brought over $100,000. Prices spiked in anticipation of both of the museum shows, but also because of her showing at the Venice Biennale in 2022.”
The late artist benefits from gallery representation in New York, and the David Zwirner Gallery mounted an online show of her work in 2024 as well, Rago said, adding: “Her time has come, especially in this contemporary mindset: a woman, not Caucasian, who ran with the AbEx artists, and was deeply respected as a teacher at Princeton University as well as an artist.”
While Takaezu is perhaps best known for her orb-like forms, she did not restrict herself to any one style. A tall and bullet-like closed-form vessel, standing 31 ¾in tall, sold for $24,000 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2021 at Heritage Auctions. The glazing is lyrical and reminiscent of ‘color stain’ painters such as Helen Frankenthaler.
A similar tall closed-form vessel dating to circa 1995 earned $16,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2023 at Wright.
Her color combinations enhanced her work, but she also added design elements such as the fine banding of horizontal incising on an untitled closed form blessed with a rattle. That circa-1995 vessel went out at $14,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2022 at Los Angeles Modern Auctions. She also created pieces such as a circa-1958 double-spouted bottle that realized $13,000 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2022 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.
Takaezu, who said working with clay was like poetry, allowed herself to be inspired by the earthy material as she brought pieces to life on her pottery wheel. Collectors who have a deep appreciation for these paintings-in-the-round have driven a vibrant and growing market for her otherworldly ceramics.
