The Nihonga (Japanese style) painter Takayama Tatsuo (1912-2007) depicted people in contemporary society. His works dealt with questions related to life and death on a grand scale, which included the universe, and the mysteries of existence. Based in Setagaya’s Seijo neighborhood, Takayama was a preeminent figure in postwar Nihonga and along with Sugiyama Yasushi and Higashiyama Kaii, was known as one of the "three mountains" of the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition). He was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in 1982. Even today, some ten years after his death, Takayama’s works remain highly esteemed as pictorial expressions filled with profound spirituality. This exhibition looks back at the artist’s over 70-year career with a collection of approximately 120 items. The largest Takayama retrospective ever held, the exhibition spans invaluable sketches from the artist’s school days to his first attempts at self-portraiture at the age of 94.