Tadamasa Hayashi (1853 - 1906)

Tadamasa Hayashi was born on 7 November 1853 in Takaoka, Japan. He studied at the University of Tokyo before arriving in Paris for the Paris World’s Fair in 1878 as a translator for the art dealer, Kenzaburô Wakaï. In 1900, in his function as imperial commissioner, he was responsible for setting up the Japan Pavilion at the World’s Fair. In addition, he had already been active in Paris since 1883, both as an art dealer and collector. As a result, Hayashi considerably influenced the perception of Japanese art in Europe. Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh were among his most famous customers. In 1905, Tadamasa Hayashi returned to Tokyo where he died on 10 November 1906. From 1892 onwards, he was friends with the Freiburg scholar and East Asia specialist, Ernst Grosse and then later with the art patron, Marie Meyer. Thanks to his cordial relationship with Hayashi, Grosse was able to acquire an array of particularly old and valuable Japanese artefacts for the Freiburg Museums.