Tomioka Tessai 富岡鉄斎

富岡鉄斎 Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924)
A nanga painter in Kyoto from the end of the Edo period to the Taisho period (1912-1926). As a young man, he served Otagaki Rengetsu as a school servant. He studied Japanese and Chinese studies, including Confucianism, Kokugaku, Buddhist scriptures, and poetry. In painting, he incorporated Ming and Qing painting styles into Yamato-e, and developed his own style of painting, especially in ink and wash painting, and well conveyed the essence of literati painting. However, he was largely self-taught. He was associated with Fujimoto Tesseki and Yamanaka Shinteno, among others. His uninhibited painting style, full of rich sensibility and energy, is unique among modern Japanese paintings and has been highly acclaimed internationally.