Tomioka Tessai 富岡鉄斎 (1836-1924)

Tessai thought of himself as primarily a bunjin (scholar) for whom poetry and calligraphy represented accomplishments more significant than painting.  The second son of a Kyoto Buddhist robe merchant, he pursued Japanese and Chinese studies and began learning to paint in the mid-1850s. While having received instruction from Kubota Setsuyō  (1795-1859 ) and Ōsumi Nankō 大角南耕  (act . mid - 19th c ), he was largely self-taught.  In the 1880s and 1890s he played a prominent role in Kyoto art circles serving as a juror for exhibitions and in the start of the 20th century his popularity as a painter began to rise.  His work, a synthesis of many styles - Kano-school painting, Yamamoto-e, Rinpa style, ukiyo-e and Western-style painting , coupled with "the unmistakable presence of his powerful personality, his art represented an exemplary model to admire and emulate.  In 1917, at the age of 81, he was appointed as an Imperial Household Artist (Teishitsu gigeiin).

Source: Nihonga Transcending the Past: Japanese-Style Painting, 1868-1968, Ellen P. Conant, The Saint Louis Art Museum, 1995, p. 325.