Fujimoto Tesseki 藤本鉄石

藤本鉄石 Fujimoto Tesseki (1816-1863)
Samurai, painter, and calligrapher at the end of the Edo period. He was a samurai of the Okayama domain, but left the domain and traveled around the country to study calligraphy, painting, and military science. He became famous as a painter in Kyoto, and engaged in volunteer activities with the ronin, a group of samurai who were members of the "Sonno Joui / Revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians.'. He was most skilled in Sansui landscape and flower-and-bird paintings. In 1863, he became the president of the Tenchugumi and joined forces with 吉村虎太郎 Yoshimura Torararo (1837-1863) and others in Yamato. Later, the Tenchugumi was defeated by the Shogunate forces and the Tenchugumi was destroyed, and Fujimoto was also killed in battle at the age of 48. 清河八郎 Kiyokawa Hachiro (1830-1863) and 山岡鉄舟 Yamaoka Tesshu (1836-1888), who were exposed to Tesseki as boys, were greatly influenced by him.