Portrait of Yamada Kosaku

Yamada Kosaku (1886-1965) was one of Japan's most celebrated Western-classical composers, and Onchi's portrait of this major cultural figure represents his sustained engagement with the world of music through visual art. The composer's face is rendered with the same psychological attentiveness Onchi brought to all his portraits — the specific physiognomy of a creative intellect recorded with the same care that Onchi expected his own work to receive. The portrait participates in Onchi's broader project of creating a visual archive of the major cultural figures of his era.