Oral history interview with Toshiko Takaezu
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 38 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Takaezu, Toshiko
label: Interviewer
content: Williams, Gerald, 1926-2014
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Cleveland Institute of Art -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Cranbrook Academy of Art -- Students
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Princeton University -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Grotell, Maija
label: Names
content: Horan, Claude.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Ceramicists -- New Jersey
label: Topic
content: Asian American art
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American women artists
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Japanese American art
label: Topic
content: Japanese American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American women artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American ceramicists
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women potters
label: Topic
content: Ceramics
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Takaezu, Toshiko
label: Interviewer
content: Williams, Gerald, 1926-2014
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) was a Japanese American ceramist of Quakertown, New Jersey. Gerry Williams (1926- ) is the co-founder and former editor of Studio Potter in Dunbarton, New Hampshire. Takaezu's birth date is also cited as 1929.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 33 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2003 June 16
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.takaez03
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Toshiko Takaezu conducted 2003 June 16, by Gerry Williams, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Quakertown, N.J.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Takaezu describes growing up in Hawaii in a large family; her first work as a commercial potter; working with Claude Horan; how religion factors into her work; studying ceramics at Cranbrook Academy of Art with Maija Grotell; the role of universities and apprenticeships in the craft movement; teaching at Princeton and the Cleveland Institute of Art; visiting artists in Japan; setting up a studio in Clinton, N.J.; her teaching philosophy; the evolution of her work from functional to closed vessels; the inside of her large pots; the importance of color and glazes; her career highlights; the inspiration she finds in nature; her role in political and social activities; her relationship with galleries, including Perimeter and Charles Cowles Gallery; her exhibition history; and the changing face of the American craft movement. She also recalls Claude Horan, Maija Grotell, Otagaki Rengetsu, Kaneshige, Rosanjin, Jeff Schlanger, and others.