Virginia (after Leonardo da Vinci) Diptych Painting

Japanese visual artist Hideyuki Sobue (b. 1965), who graduated from Osaka University of Arts, lives and works in the Lake District, UK, yet grew up as an orphan in Aichi, Japan. Working with drawing and painting, two historical media that have served as a fundamental means of communication since prehistoric times, he explores the unbroken line in the relationship between art and humanity. Sobue uses an entirely original brush hatching technique employing Japanese sumi ink and acrylic. Created through a fusion of influences - the concept of Disegno in the Florentine school of the Renaissance, oriental artistic heritage and neurological studies - Sobue’s medium attempts to create a platform bridging East and West, and explore the interdisciplinary approach related to the human act of seeing, delving into the mystery and uniqueness of humanity. Sobue has exhibited extensively throughout the UK and Japan. Notable exhibitions include 'A Letter to the Earth from Beatrix' commissioned by the National Trust and supported by Arts Council England (Allan Bank, Grasmere); 'Wordsworth, Rawnsley and Lake District', celebrating the 250th anniversary of William Wordsworth’s birth and the centenary of Hardwicke Rawnsley’s death supported by Arts Council England (Rydal Mount & Gardens, Ambleside); 'onversation with Ruskin', celebrating the bicentenary of John Ruskin's birth, supported by Arts Council England (the Blue Gallery, Brantwood, Coniston/ The Ruskin, Lancaster University, Lancaster); 'Wordsworth and Basho: Walking Poets' (Itami City Art Museum Kakimori Bunko, Japan); 'I Wandered...', commemorating the 200th anniversary of the final publication of William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (Rydal Mount & Gardens, Ambleside); 'The Way I See' supported by Arts Council England (Japan House Gallery, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London); the Royal Scottish Academy Open (RSA Lower Gallery, Edinburgh); the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize (Kings Place, London); Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Open (RBSA Gallery); National Open Art (Minerva Theatre, Chichester). Among other public collections, his work is housed at Rydal Mount & Gardens - a historic house with gardens designed by William Wordsworth. Sobue’s works are currently held in public & private collections in Japan, China, Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and the USA.