Kawamura Kiyoo

Place: Edo

Born: 1852

Death: 1934

Biography:

Kawamura Kiyoo was a Japanese yōga artist born in Edo (now Tokyo) in 1852 and died in Tenri in 1934. He began studying painting as a child under Sumiyoshi Naiki before moving to Osaka, where he studied under Tanomura Chokunyū. He later studied yōga painting with Kawakami Tōgai in Edo. In 1871, he traveled to the United States to study political law, but turned to painting in Venice after traveling to France and Italy. He returned to Japan in 1881 and worked for the Ministry of Finance Printing Bureau before opening a painting school in Kōjimachi. In 1889, he participated in the formation of the Meiji Bijutsukai, the first domestic art association to champion western-style painting. Kawamura Kiyoo often painted in western-style oil on traditional Japanese supports of silk and wood. He died in Tenri in 1934.