ARTIST DETAILS

1885-1974

Kobayakawa Shusei (1885-1974) was a Taisho to Showa period Japanese painter and official war artist from the Hyogo prefecture. Following junior high school graduation, Shusei entered a Kyoto private art academy, but quickly dropped out. He studied under acclaimed Japanese painters, Taniguchi Kokyo and, later, Yamamoto Shunkyo, and his works were repeatedly selected for official exhibitions held by the Ministry of Education and Imperial Fine Art Academy. He frequently travelled to China and Europe and, as a hired war painter, he ventured into battlefields. These works were then exhibited at Imperial and Shinbun exhibitions. Following the war, he moved onto creating religious paintings.