Over the 34 years that the gallery operated, there were a total of 910 exhibitions and the owners acquired at least one work from each. This exhibition comprises the Itoh's choices from that collection, which they have very generously gifted to Auckland War Memorial Museum. This is a significant gift, adding to the Museum's already significant collection of Asian applied arts.
Shigenori and Kazuko Itoh have long delighted in the art of ceramics. They arrived at their admiration through different routes. Kazuko was, for many years, a student of tea ceremony and Ikebana floral arrangements. Both activities involve handling a range of pottery. She was a client of Green Gallery, aware of its reputation as a source of fine ceramics for both pursuits. She joined the gallery in 1991 and opened the door for more foreign ceramists.
Shigenori Itoh first learned at the side of his uncle, a distinguished writer, calligrapher and collector of antique artefacts from China, Korea and Japan. Later, his appreciation increased as he assisted his father-in-law to display his own notable collection to interested visitors. This involved unwrapping pots from their traditional cloth covers and replacing the wrapped pots into the custom-made boxes. The constant handling, and the discussions he heard meant his judgement and expertise grew. Visitors to the collection included Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada - influential twentieth-century potters - and Soetsu Yanagi, a significant academic, philosopher and writer on folk craft.
The Itohs' particular interests lie with traditional tableware. However, they have also been advocates for more contemporary work, and have given support to ceramics from shores foreign to Japan, believing that open attitudes assisted knowledge and understanding.
Shigenori Itoh was a valuable benefactor for the Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award during the 1990s, being influential in encouraging artists from his gallery to enter.
He retired from active involvement with the gallery in 2004 at the age of 85, but continues his interest with the third manifestation of Green Gallery - under their home on Waiheke Island.
Green Gallery
Shigenori and Fusako Itoh opened the first Green Gallery in 1971 at Aoyama, on the ground floor of a building owned by Shigenori. A second gallery was opened in 1981, in another building also in inner Tokyo, at Akasaka. It was called Green Gallery because the initial gallery was situated in South Green Street, Minami-Aoyama.
The Itohs were true patrons and saw their venture as support for the artists. The galleries were a personal passion which ran alongside the business of renting out the two buildings. The galleries rarely returned any profit, instead they were vehicles for the exhibition of contemporary ceramics - that came principally from the Kyoto area - and occasionally textiles, lacquer ware and glass. Most of the artists belonged to the Dentohten and the Nitten associations of artists. Dentohten is traditionally based tableware while Nitten, also traditionally based but allowing more free expression, concentrates on the form and surface of vessels.
The Tokyo art world was considered conservative and, while the Aoyama area had many artists, studios and galleries, most galleries showed antiques. This determined Shigenori Itoh's resolve to show more modern work, and Green Gallery was one of only three galleries in Tokyo to exhibit contemporary work during that time. As well, Green Gallery was available for exhibitions by foreigners; the first was James Greig from New Zealand in 1983.
Over the thirty-four years of the Green Gallery's existence there were a total of 910 exhibitions, and the records are now held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
It was the custom for the Gallery to purchase at least one work from each exhibition, and these form the core of the Green Gallery collection. The selection displayed here comprises Shigenori and Kazuko Itoh's choices from that collection, and has been gifted to Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Green Galleries closed in Tokyo after the 34th anniversary exhibition in 2004. In 2001 the Itohs moved to Waiheke Island where Green Gallery continues to show work from international artists over the summer months. There have been 40 shows so far, and work has been sourced mainly from Japan and New Zealand, but also from Turkey, the United States of America, England, Australia and the Czech Republic.
By www.aucklandmuseum.com
Posted January 4th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
