Taikan Yokoyama's first artwork that brought him fame is called Altruism (see Appendix A). He created it in 1897 and it is currently in the Tokyo National Museum. Altruism is in color on silk and measures 56 ¼ x 43 ¼ in. It shows a young boy at the water's edge, wearing an oversized kimono with wide sleeves in the Heian period (782-1185). Taikan studied the pattern and cut of the Heian period kimono. The willows were drawn using a traditional technique while the bright colors and innocent features of the young boy showed Taikan's originality. The skillful use of line and coloring in this painting was acquired when he studied the works of his old masters and made copies of them. Taikan chose the figure of a standing young boy to represent his ideal of Zen Buddhism, altruism. He received the Copper Medal at the second exhibition of the Japan Painting Society. Another famous work painted by Taikan Yokoyama is called The Wheel of Life (see Appendix B). Taikan drew it in 1923 and it is part of a private collection held at the Tokyo National Museum. The Wheel of Life is a “…monumental horizontal scroll measuring almost forty meters long. It is ink on silk and measures 21 ¾ x 1,521 inches. It shows the flow of a river from its birth in the mountains to its emergence into the sea and its rise into the clouds to complete the cycle” (Miyagawa, 65). The river is used to represent both landscape scenes and the ups and downs of human life. Yokoyama used imported Chinese ink for this work. The intense and brilliant tone of the Indian ink suited the subject very well. With ink, he used every technique he had ever learned about ink painting in this work of art. While Taikan was traveling in India with another guy...... middle of paper ...... style. Curators have called his works using the “moro-tai” technique “…desecrations of the oriental spirit” (Weatherby, 4). However, this did not stop Taikan Yokoyama from painting. Therefore, his paintings became gentle and full of feeling, showing a greater depth of poetic insight than his earlier artworks. As his style changed, so did the public and admired his paintings.VI. Conclusion No other painter has played as important a role in the development of modern Japanese art as Taikan Yokoyama. Taikan used a variety of styles and produced many important works of art. He was constantly looking for new ways to develop and glorify the Japanese style. When Okakura Tenshin, director of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, died, Taikan Yokoyama took over and continued to lead other artists in the development of a modern style of Japanese art..