Rendered in varying tones of back ink with
subtle washes and blue water color, this scroll captures all of the beauty of a
masterpiece pot in two dimensions. Painted on paper, this graceful and towering
vase has a fluid decoration as only Kawai Kanjiro could render them and at the
foot in a rounded cartouche he has signed the scroll using the single kanji;
KAN. I am more than particularly fond of preparatory drawings, sketches, water
colors, shikishi and scrolls that outline an potter's thoughts in 2-D and this
scroll certainly alludes to the brilliance of his masterful, three dimensional
forms. Kawai Kanjiro has left a large number of ephemera to document his
creativity as well as a good group of calligraphy and paintings created solely
as two dimensional works of art. This particular scroll stands somewhere
in-between preparatory drawing and work of art and would certainly be
exhilarating to see it re-united with the pot which it may have inspired.
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