Toshichi Iwata

Toshichi Iwata (1893-1980) was a Japanese glass artist. He is considered to be the founding father of modern art glass making in Japan. Iwata was active as a glass artist by 1927 until his death, creating many unique studio pieces and designing many production pieces. During his life time, he was considered Japan's foremost authority on modern glass craft.

Career

Iwata was born in 1893 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. He attended the Tokyo School of Fine Arts for twelve years, where he studied metal work and Western oil painting, graduating in 1918 from the metal craft department and earning a BA in Western oil painting in 1923. It was during this time that he became interested in crafting art glass and ultimately chose to pursue a career as a glass artist. Iwata next studied under Imamura Shigezo at the Tachibana Glass Factory. In 1947 he and his wife, Itoko Iwata, founded the Iwata Glass Industrial Company where factory art glass was produced by workers and unique pieces were produced by members of the Iwata family.

Personal Life

Toshichi and Itoko Iwata were married before 1925 when their oldest son Hisatoshi Iwata, also a well known glass artist, was born.

Exhibitions

Iwata exhibited his work at the Nitten National Exhibition, before and after the Second World War. He served as an exhibition judge there later in life. Iwata received the Japan Art Academy Prize in 1951. In 1972 he founded the Japan Glass Art and Crafts Association. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1980 by the Emperor for his lifetime of devotion to the arts.

Public Collections

His works have been collected by the The National Museums of Modern Art, in Tokyo and Kyoto, and several of his pieces are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York among many others. A survey of his work in book form was published in Japan in 1993. Many exhibition catalogs of his work were created. Examples of his work are easily found on line.

Works bearing the Iwata factory label are production pieces made by employees of the Iwata Glass Industrial Company, not studio pieces made by Iwata and his family members. The original design for factory pieces were very often done by members of the Iwata family and then mass produced in their factory. Many unique pieces were never reproduced. Well known glass artist Kyohei Fujita was an early employee of Iwata and his early studio works show Iwata's influence.