Hans_Coper_Retrospective

The very high reputation of Hans Coper（1920-1981）places him alongside Bernard Leach and (1887-1979)and Lucie Rie（1902-1995）as one of the great names in 20th century British ceramics.

Unlike Bernard Leach, whose pottery aesthetics were derived from Eastern and Western ceramic culture and traditional styles, Rie and Coper’s work reflects an urban modernism and an awareness of architectural spaces.　Coper made sculptural pieces, creating his forms on the potter’s wheel and then applying a dark, nuanced surface decoration.　He therefore opened up a new facet of ceramic aesthetics by expanding the scope of pottery from the vessel to the discovery of new possibilities in ceramic art, making his legacy very important not only in the UK but on the ceramics scene worldwide.

Coper was born in 1920 in Chemnitz, in the German province of Saxony.　Because of his father’s Jewish status he was forced to flee persecution, finding refuge in London in 1939.　Throughout the difficult and dangerous wartime period Coper hung onto his dream of becoming a sculptor.　The turning point in his career came during his search for work after the war when he met Lucie Rie, who was making buttons for the haute couture industry.　Thereafter the two became close friends for life, continually influencing each other’s stylistic development.

The current exhibition is the first large-scale retrospective of Coper’s life and work to be held in Japan.　 The full and generous cooperation of Coper’s wife Jane has enabled us to present a full picture of his art ranging from his early works through to his late years, including sketches, tableware familiar through his collaboration with Rie, work demonstrating Coper’s approach to architectural spaces through ceramics, and his incorporation of Cycladic and spade forms into modern pieces, inspired by ancient Mycenaean and Egyptian culture.