Background
Yumeji Takehisa was born September 16, 1884 in Oku (now Setouchi), Okayama, Japan under the name of Shigejiro.
夢二 竹久
Yumeji Takehisa was born September 16, 1884 in Oku (now Setouchi), Okayama, Japan under the name of Shigejiro.
He attended Waseda University.
At an earlier stage in his life he intended to become a poet, but knowing he could not make a living as a poet, he began drawing pictures. He never studied drawing in any painting school nor under any teacher formally. He hated the concept of the "artist", feeling they were rather pretentious which unsurprisingly upset many of the artists of his time, leading to poor reviews from the so-called elite.
Outside of the art circles, Takehisa's works acquired great popularity among ordinary people and to this day have many ardent fans in Japan and abroad.
In 1930 he left on an overseas tour, but after returning home died in poverty.