Shoji Hamada, 1894-1978, was the leading figure in the Mingei folk art movement in Japan, advocating the use of traditional techniques in the making of pottery.
In 1918 he met Bernard Leach and from 1920-23 traveled to England with him to set up Leach Pottery in St. Ives. Later, he moved back to Japan and created a workshop in Mashiko, where he provided housing and workspace for visiting potters from Japan and abroad.
Considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century, Hamada's works are in the collections of many of the most important museums of the world and his influence is widely felt. In 1955, he was designated a National Living Treasure by the Japanese government.
Public Collections include:
The British Museum, London, UK
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Leach Pottery Museum, Cornwall, UK
The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, Japan
Mashiko Sankokan Museum, Tochigi, Japan
Tochigi Kenritsu Bijutsukan, Tochigi, Japan
Kyoto Kokuritsu Kindai Bijutsukan (Museum of Modern Art), Kyoto, Japan
Togei Messe Mashiko (Ceramic Art Museum), Tochigi, Japan
York Art Gallery, UK
Gallery Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK
Musée nationale de Céramiques, Sèvres, France
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
Los Angeles County Museum, LA, USA
Honolulu Art Museum, Hawaii, USA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA