Visual art
Toshiko Takaezu
1922–2011 · ceramic artist, painter, weaver
Hawaiian-born ceramic artist who studied and taught at Cranbrook in the 1950s under Maija Grotell and became a leader of abstract American ceramics.
- Born
Pepeʻekeo, Hawaii- Died
Honolulu, Hawaii
aged 88- Detroit years
- 1951–1956
- Field
- Visual art
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Takaezu grew up in Hawaii in a family of Japanese immigrants and studied at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the University of Hawaii. From 1951 to 1954 she continued at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, studying sculpture with William McVey and weaving with Marianne Strengell, and meeting the Finnish ceramist Maija Grotell, who became her mentor; in 1953 Takaezu became Grotell's assistant. She taught summer courses at Cranbrook from 1954 to 1956. Weaving with Strengell sparked a lifelong interest in fiber, but clay remained her main medium. Moving beyond the idea of pottery as functional ware, she developed her signature closed forms: round vessels and tall columns sealed at the top, sometimes with a small rattle of clay inside, their surfaces brushed and poured with glaze in the spirit of Abstract Expressionism. She later taught for decades at Princeton University and is regarded as one of the key figures who carried ceramics into the realm of fine art.
Highlights
- Studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1951–1954
- Assistant to Maija Grotell from 1953
- Taught Cranbrook summer courses, 1954–1956
- Known for closed ceramic forms influenced by Abstract Expressionism
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1951–1956
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Where she studied with Grotell, McVey and Strengell, assisted Grotell and taught summer courses.