Chōkai Seiji
Year unknown
Oil on canvas
From Mr. I’s Collection
Chōkai Seiji
1902-1972
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture. Besides having Ryūsei Kishida as a friend and seeking critique from Yorozu Tetsugorō through Hara Seiichi, generally Chōkai was a self-taught artist. With his unique expression, which pursues a heavy pictorial surface and realism, he was awarded an award by the Shun’yōkai. In 1943, he joined the Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyōkai (Free Artists Association). After the war, he established a style of painting that combines simple forms with thick layers of earthy colors. He painted an independent world, detached from real society. From a young age, he was fascinated by Japanese culture, and it is said that his works were an experiment in introducing oil painting to Japan.