Hiroshi Okutani1934~ 奥谷博

OKUTANI Hiroshi (born August 12, 1934) is a Japanese Western-style (yoga) painter, originally from Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture. He studied oil painting at Tokyo University of the Arts under Hayashi Takeshi and was first selected for the Dokuritsu (Independent) Art Association exhibition in 1958 with “Burial,” becoming a full member in 1966. He served as associate professor at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music and as visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, known for powerful color and symbolic, visionary compositions. He was elected to the Japan Art Academy in 1996, recognized as a Person of Cultural Merit in 2007, and received the Order of Culture in 2017.