Bichitra, Rabindranath and Kampo Arai (cont-6)

Kampo Arai was born in (Portrait of tagore by Kampo Arai ) Ujiiie of Tochigi prefecture. Enamoured by the paintings of Yokoyama Taikan and Kanzan Shimomura, the two most famous Japanese ‘Nihonga’ painters of the period, Rabindranath Tagore, during his stay in Japan in 1916, wished to have a few of their works copied for him to take back home. Arai, a painter of the Nihon Bijutsuin at that time, was commissioned by Tomitaro Hara (an art connoisseur) to copy two paintings by tailkan and Kanzan for Tagore to be taken to India. Arai Kampo copied the paintings and came to Kolkata in 1916 on Rabindranath Tagore’s invitation.He visited Calcutta and Santiniketan and travelled around India from 1916 to 1918