Yoshiyuki Nakano (1946–2023)　Born in Kyoto and trained at the graduate school of Tama Art University, Yoshiyuki Nakano was a Nihonga master who pursued a unique aesthetic rooted in tradition. Studying under renowned artists such as Matazō Kayama and Misao Yokoyama, he nevertheless forged a deeply personal style characterized by a bold, free spirit.

Nakano’s deep reverence for materials—ink, mineral pigments, paper—extended beyond conventional uses; he treated them as integral elements of his art. His meticulous exploration gave rise to works in which the medium itself seems imbued with life.

His career was marked by numerous exhibitions and accolades. In 1972, he won the New Artist Prize at the Spring Exhibition of the New Production Association, followed by the New Artist Award in 1975. His honors continued with the MOA Okada Mokichi Award (1992), the Kyoto Art Culture Award (1994), the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award (2005), and the MOA Grand Prize (2006).

A longtime educator at Tama Art University, where he later served as an emeritus professor, Nakano influenced younger generations through his teaching while continuing to present solo exhibitions across Japan—from Ashiya to Hakone. His lyrical depictions of landscape, sky, and birds evoke the very breath of nature.

His expansive, poetic oeuvre resonates with quiet emotion, inviting viewers into a dialogue with nature itself. Nakano remains celebrated as an artist who breathed life into materials and spoke through them with grace and vigor.