Shi De

Having worked mainly in the realm of wood sculpture before the world war Ⅱ, Tsuji began to focus on abstract shapes after taking his post as a professor at the Kyoto City School of Arts (now Kyoto City University of Arts) in 1949. From around 1955 he energetically dedicated himself to the creation of unique works of highly abstract ceramic ware. The audacious style resulting from firing clay has been noted as an attempt to pioneer a new formative philosophy different from conventional sculpture, while the technique and artistic style defying the common sense of ceramics are said to have exerted great influence on artists of the Sodeisha and other avant-garde movements in ceramic arts. This work is an iconographic depiction of the legendary Chinese Tang Dynasty anchoret Jittoku, standing and holding a broom. The variously sized windows on the figure’s front side seem to be luring the viewer right into the anchoret’s heart.