Hashimoto Gahō (1835–1908) was a Japanese painter active from the late Edo period through to the Meiji era, and played a pivotal role in laying the foundations of modern Japanese painting. He began his career as a painter in the Kano school, mastering traditional techniques of landscape and figure painting; however, from the Meiji period onwards, he developed an interest in the sense of perspective and three-dimensional representation found in Western painting, and sought to adapt Japanese painting to the new era. He was also deeply involved in the founding of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, where he nurtured many painters who would go on to lead the Japanese art world, including Yokoyama Taikan, Shimomura Kanzan and Hishida Shunsō.

In Masakuni’s works, one can sense his efforts to imbue the composition with depth and expansiveness, whilst retaining the vigorous brushwork characteristic of the Kano school. In his landscape paintings, the solid structure of rocks and trees coexists within the same composition with a soft rendering that evokes the atmosphere. He comes across as an artist who, rather than discarding the forms of traditional painting, sought to build upon their strengths to forge a new path for Japanese painting. I believe the appeal of Masakuni Hashimoto lies in his majestic compositional structure, which bridges the gap between tradition and modernity.