川端龍子

Kawabata Ryūshi (1885–1966) transformed Japanese painting by breaking with convention. Born in Wakayama and trained initially in Western oil painting, he encountered Japanese art treasures at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1913 and switched to nihonga upon returning home. Dissatisfied with the intimate "alcove art" tradition that dominated the art world, he founded the Seiryūsha in 1929 to champion "art for exhibition halls"—monumental works designed for public spaces.