About

Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. is a fine art gallery that is exclusively devoted to showcasing Modern ceramic works of art from Japan. 

 

Since our beginning in 1989, we have been focused on highlighting important Japanese ceramics to the contemporary art scene in New York City. The gallery has introduced pieces to the permanent collections of several major museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Indianapolis Art Museum, Smith College Museum of Art, The Princeton University Art Museum, and many more.

 

We are committed to providing leading expertise to collectors, liaising with artists, and showcasing inspiring exhibitions & artworks. We welcome you to contact us for more details.

  • Director, Beatrice Lei Chang

    Director

    Beatrice Lei Chang

    Beatrice Chang is a leading expert on Japanese and Chinese ceramic works who has introduced pieces to the collections of about twenty museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, Minneapolis Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, and San Diego Art Museum. Chang continues to be an authority in the field and advises a variety of clients, from the curious passerby to the life-long collector. 

     

    Following her studies at Fudan University in her hometown of Shanghai, Chang received an American master’s degree and an Asian Art course certificate from Sotheby’s. In 1989 Chang joined Gallery Zero, which was the first gallery to introduce contemporary Japanese ceramics to New York City. Chang co-authored the book Fired with Passion: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics(2006), which was received well by the ceramic community. On behalf of Dai Ichi Arts, Chang co-organized the exhibition Breaking the Mold: Contemporary Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Sculpture (2009) with the Dennos Museum Center in Michigan. Fluent in English, Chinese, and Japanese, Chang has lectured on both Chinese and Japanese ceramic work at universities in China and museums in the United States. As a Chinese-born expert on contemporary Japanese ceramics, Chang has often made fruitful “detours” to her homeland when traveling to Japan. Like with contemporary Japanese ceramics, Chang has sought to educate and ignite a love for Chinese ceramics in New York and elsewhere.  

     

    As the director and owner of Dai Ichi Arts, Chang has traveled extensively and established meaningful relationships with Japanese ceramic artists. Chang’s contribution to this field is praised in a letter from Jacques Chirac, at the time the president of France and a self–proclaimed Ambassador to Asia, in which he says “Je vous en remercie très particulièrement” (March 25, 2003). 

  • Gallery Administrator, Haruka Miyazaki

    Gallery Administrator

    Haruka Miyazaki

    Haruka Miyazaki is the Gallery Liaison at Dai Ichi Arts. Born and raised in Japan, Haruka moved to New York and studied business with a particular focus on business in art, culture, and modern media. Having grown up in Mie and Aichi prefectures in Japan, she was exposed from an early age to Seto, Iga and Banko pottery, and is deeply influenced by the beauty, heritage, and industry of Modern Japanese ceramics. As Gallery Liaison, she strives to be a bridge between Japanese artists and the American market in order to promote Japanese contemporary ceramics and modern culture to the West. Haruka is fluent in Japanese and English, and can respond to gallery inquiries in Japanese.

  • Gallery Assistant, Kristie Lui

    Gallery Assistant

    Kristie Lui

    Kristie Lui is the Gallery Assistant at Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. She received her Master’s degree in the History of Art and Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she studied the art of China and Japan from the Tang dynasty and Heian period, respectively. She received her Bachelor's degree at University College London in the History of Art and Material Sciences. At UCL, she studied the exchange of decorative arts between France, England, and East Asia. She is fluent in three languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and can read and write in French and Japanese. She has had experience working in museums, galleries, and cultural heritage institutions in Singapore, Beijing, and London.


    She also writes for journals and publications, such as Studio Potter & more.