Ryohei Koiso

Japanese painter Ryohei Koiso was one of the masters of Japanese western-style painting. He was born as the son of a merchant named Kishigami and in 1925 adopted the name Koiso. Educated at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Koiso studied under the eminent teacher of his time, Fujishima Takeji, and graduated at the top of his class in 1927. In 1928 Koiso moved to Paris and travelled throughout Europe for two years to immerse himself in western art, winning a prize for a painting of a woman in a Salon d’Automne exhibition. He returned to Japan in 1930.

Koiso was fascinated with the culture of women and his portraits are finely realized interpretations of the modern female figure. During World War II he often received commissions for paintings depicting Japanese military scenes, such as the signing of the British surrender of Singapore, and Japanese infantrymen making their way through high grass fields in Malaysia. From 1953 until 1971 Koiso taught painting at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. He died from pneumonia in a hospital in his hometown of Kobe. The two prints submitted in 1936 were lithographs.