Artist
Yanagi Sōetsu
Japan
The philosopher who saw beauty where others saw only utility.
He wasn't a potter—but his ideas changed pottery forever.
Yanagi Sōetsu was a philosopher, art critic, and founder of the mingei (folk craft) movement. In the 1920s, while studying Korean Yi dynasty ceramics, he developed his theory: that true beauty emerged not from individual artistic genius but from the anonymous, unselfconscious work of traditional craftspeople. He gathered potters Shoji Hamada, Kanjiro Kawai, and Bernard Leach. Together they established the Japan Folk Crafts Museum and spread mingei philosophy worldwide.
What might you achieve by getting yourself out of the way?