Kiyoshi Yamashita (1922–1971) was a painter born in Tokyo who created a unique world through collage and pen-and-ink drawings. He developed his talent for torn-paper collage whilst at school, and subsequently travelled extensively, committing the townscapes, festivals, fireworks and natural landscapes he encountered to memory, only to express them as artworks upon his return. His work is characterised by a rich palette of colours created from minute fragments of paper.

His works possess a sincerity that values the colours and shapes that linger in his mind, rather than merely reproducing the scenes he witnessed with precision. The gathering of tiny paper fragments gives rise to a unique rhythm in the water’s surface, the night sky and the light of fireworks. The appeal of his work lies in the way his keen powers of observation are evident amidst its approachable nature.