Takeuchi Keishu

Takeuchi Keishu, born Takeuchi Shinpei in Kanazawa and raised in Edo, was the son of a daimyō from Wakayama Prefecture. As a young man, he was adopted as a student by the family of the renowned painter Eitoku, head of the Kanō school. However, after leaving the Kanō school, Keishu became a student of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, another influential figure in his artistic development.
During the chaotic Meiji Restoration period (Meiji Ishin), which led to upheavals and civil wars, Keishu was unable to dedicate himself fully to his studies. To make a living, he began decorating porcelain for export.
After his brother`s suicide he returned home continuing his work as a porcelain decorator. Faced with a salary reduction imposed by his employer to increase profits, he started creating hanshita, the black and white outline drawings used for carving the woodblock print`s key block. Among his works, the kuchie, frontispieces created for the Ken`yūsha literary group, the Hakabunkan publisher, and other children`s books are particularly notable. These illustrations often became more popular than the novels themselves.
Despite being one of the best students of Zeshin and Yoshitoshi, little is known about Keishu today, whose works are held in collections such as the British Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.