Tessai folding screen, sumi and color on washi , 2000, private collection

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There is something alluring about a person born outside of his time.

By the time Tomiyoka Tessai was born most of the people that could truly appreciate his paintings were already dead.

 He was the last of a long line of great literati painters in Japan.  He was the caboose that followed the train.

 He expected people to read the words on his picture before they looked at the painting.  The words were of primary importance.

 The inspiration for this painting of Tessai came from a famous photo.  The photo shows a very old Tessai sitting, reading in his room.  He has a thin white beard, and he is wearing a simple kimono and an old style black cap.  The room is cold.  He is sitting close to the hibachi.  His tatami mats are worn and stained with sumi ink.   The room is full of books.  Tessai is sitting quiet and small - like one of the old Chinese hermits he painted, happily living in a lion's den.

He is alone in the photo.  But of course he was not alone.  A camera was in that room too, a modern machine from a modern age - catching the past that was nearly gone.

 I wrote a few words in English on my painting of Tessai.  It is ironic that more Japanese can understand my English words today, than can understand Tessai's Japanese.