鈴木治／Suzuki Osamu

鈴木治は、戦後の陶芸界を牽引した陶芸家であり、前衛陶芸家集団「走泥社」の主要メンバーです。長年の功績が認められ、1999年には、陶芸界で初となる朝日賞を受賞しました。

1926年、鈴木は陶業の中心地である京都の五条坂に生まれました。父は、千家十職（せんけじっしょく）の永樂善五郎の工房でろくろ師を務めていた鈴木宇源治（うげんじ）です。京都市立第二工業学校窯業科を卒業後、海軍航空隊の整備兵として入隊したため、本格的に陶芸の道を志すようになったのは、戦後に入ってからのことでした。1948年に八木一夫や山田光らとともに結成した「走泥社」は、戦後の陶芸界において新たな造形分野を確立しましたが、その50年に及ぶ活動の中で、鈴木もまた独自のスタイルを模索し、築きあげていくことになります。1954年、八木がオブジェ焼きの記念碑的作品である【ザムザ氏の散歩】を発表すると、鈴木も伝統的な器とは異なる斬新な作品を次々と生み出しました。「泥像」や「土偶」と名付けられたその作品群は、量感と素朴な力強さにあふれ、鈴木が生涯にわたって愛した土や火の存在感を感じさせます。1970年代からは、赤い化粧土を施した焼締めと、繊細で優美な青白磁という、まったく異なる表現、効果、技法を行き来し始めます。その作風も徐々に変化を遂げ、馬や鳥などの動物だけでなく、明確にとらえるのが難しい風や雲といった自然現象を、極限まで削ぎ落とされたボリュームで簡明に形作りました。80年代に入ると、鈴木はそれらを「泥象」という造語で呼ぶようになります。そこには、土によって森羅万象をも表現し得る、豊饒な陶芸の世界に対する鈴木の想いがこめられています。

1990年代以降は、作品と鑑賞者の関係にも関心を向けるようになります。観る者に物語や詩歌の世界を呼び起こそうと試みた晩年の作品は、文学的な色合いを帯びながら、一層芸術の深まりを見せています。

Osamu Suzuki was a leading ceramic artist who played a significant role in the postwar pottery scene and was a key member of the avant-garde ceramic artist group called “Sodeisha”. Recognizing his longstanding contributions, he became the first recipient of the Asahi Prize in the field of pottery in 1999.

He was born in 1926 on Gojozaka, Kyoto, which was the heartland of pottery production. His father, Ugenji Suzuki, worked as a potter at the workshop of Senke Jyusshoku’s Eiraku Zengoro. After graduating from the Kyoto City Second Industrial School’s ceramic department, he enlisted in the Naval Aviation Corps as a maintenance soldier. It was after the war that he truly devoted himself to the path of pottery. In 1948, he co-founded “Sodeisha” with Kazuo Yagi and Hikaru Yamada, among others, establishing new realms of artistic expression in the postwar ceramic art scene. Throughout his 50 years of activity, he continuously explored and developed his unique style. In 1954, when Yagi unveiled his monumental work, “Mr. Zamza’s Stroll,” it was a kiln-fired unglazed object piece. He also started producing innovative pieces that deviated from traditional vessels. The group of his artworks named “Deizo (Mud Figures)” and “Dogu(Clay Figures)” are brimming with a sense of volume and rustic strength, evoking the profound presence of earth and fire that he cherished throughout his life. From the 1970s onwards, he began experimenting with completely different expressions, effects, and techniques, namely the use of red slip-coated yakishime (unglazed) and delicate, elegant blue-white porcelain. Gradually, his artistic approach underwent further transformation, and he simplified the form to succinctly represent natural phenomena like wind and clouds, which are difficult to capture distinctly. In the 1980s, he called his artworks as “Deisyo”, encapsulating his vision of the bountiful world of pottery that can express the entire universe through clay.

After the 1990s, he also began to focus on the relationship between his artworks and the viewers. In his later years, he endeavored to evoke narratives and poetic worlds within the viewers, and his works took on a more literary quality, revealing an even deeper artistic depth.