Professor of Art History Meghen Jones publishes article in "Impressions"

Alfred University Associate Professor of Art History Meghen Jones recently published an article on noted Japanese ceramicist Kitaōji Rosanjin in the peer-reviewed journal Impressions (no. 43, 2022).

The article, "Kitaōji Rosanjin in New York, 1954," explores Rosanjin's 1954 exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art, as well as accompanying lectures and demonstrations at Greenwich House Pottery and Alfred University.

As potter and poet M.C. Richards recounted, "I was transported with delight and mirth and admiration. American pieties were being offended right and left."

Rosanjin was born in 1883 in Japan. He studied calligraphy before he immersed himself in ceramic art, and the appreciation of the food served on his ceramic plates. In post-WWII Tokyo, he opened a restaurant in Tokyo that was patronized by upper echelons of the occupying American forces, and began establishing an international reputation. In 1954, he traveled to New York with activities coordinated by the Japan Society, then to Europe, where he broadened his acquaintance with 20th century artists.

Jones, who recently served as guest curator for the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum’s exhibition Path of the Teabowl, received her PhD in Art History and Architecture from Boston University. Her publications include the book Ceramics and Modernity in Japan (2019) co-edited with Louise Allison Cort.