Keisen Tomita1879~1936 冨田渓仙

Tomita Keisen (real name Shingoro) was a Japanese-style painter born in Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture in 1879, who died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Kyoto in 1936. After studying the Kano and Shijo schools, he found them unsatisfying and forged his own style that incorporated Buddhist and Zen painting, Nanga, and Western Expressionism. Recognized by Yokoyama Taikan, he became a member of the Japan Art Institute in 1915 and was appointed to the Imperial Art Academy in 1935. He kept his distance from the Kyoto art establishment and accepted no disciples, earning a reputation as a solitary genius, and was also known for his friendship with the French poet Paul Claudel.