Hirokazu Terasaki (1866–1919) was a Japanese-style painter born in Akita Prefecture who was active from the Meiji to the Taishō periods. He developed a passion for painting from an early age and, after moving to Tokyo, studied a wide range of painting styles, including the Kano school, Nanga, and the Maruyama and Shijō schools. Specialising in landscapes, figures, and flower-and-bird paintings, he produced works that, whilst grounded in traditional brush-and-ink techniques, incorporated the clear composition and realism characteristic of the modern era. Serving as a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and as an Imperial Artist, he devoted himself not only to his own artistic practice but also to nurturing the next generation, playing a vital role in the formation of the modern Japanese art world.

When viewing Kōgyō’s works, one senses a tranquillity, as if quietly savouring nature, within the majestic compositions underpinned by his masterful brushwork. In his landscape paintings, whilst he depicts the volume of mountains and trees with precision, he creates an atmosphere of depth through the use of negative space and the gradations of ink. I believe the unique charm of Terasaki Kōgyō lies in his ability to cherish the elegance of classical Japanese painting whilst seamlessly incorporating the sense of realism characteristic of a new era.