Tomita Keisen

His artistic training began with Kinugasa Morimasa (1852-1912), the official painter for the Kuroda clan and a follower of the Kanō school.

He was deeply interested in both Christianity and Zen Buddhism and travelled about, to China and Okinawa and, notably, to Nara to study the Heian period Buddhist images.

In 1915, Yokoyama Taikan invited him to participate in an exhibition held by the Nihon Bijutsuin, after which he was named an associate member of that organization.

In 1923, through the mediation of novelist Yamanouchi Yoshio [ja], he was introduced to the Ambassador from France, Paul Claudel, who was also a poet.

In 1931, he paid a visit to Berlin to attend the "Ausstellung japanische Malerei [de]".