Kume Keiichiro

Île-de-Bréhat by Keiichiro Kume, 1891

Kume Keiichirō (久米 桂一郎, 11 September 1866 – 29 July 1934) was a Japanese painter of Meiji to Shōwa periods. His father was Kume Kunitake, a historian.

Born in Hizen (today Saga), he studied abroad in Paris, learning techniques from Raphaël Collin in the Académie Colarossi. He lived in Paris, Barcelona and Île-de-Bréhat before going back to Japan in 1893. Back in Japan, he contributed to introducing Impressionism along with Kuroda Seiki. Later, he became a prestigious professor at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

References

• Un peintre japonais à Bréhat : Keiichirô Kume par Mme Fumiko ITO, conservateur du Musée Kume – Les Carnets du Goëlo, No. 20 (2004), bulletin de la Société d'études historiques et archéologique du Goëlo.
• Bru, Ricard, "Kume Keiichiro. Un pintor japonés en la España del siglo XIX", Goya, Madrid, 2009, pp. 236-250.
• Paris in Japan. The Japanese Encounter with European Painting, Washington, University Art Gallery, 1987.