Toshio Arimoto passed away in February 1985 at the age of 38. However, the paintings he created in just over a decade continue to captivate many people even today. Since the end of the 19th century, the path of art in Japan has diverged from that of Western modern art. It was difficult for Japanese, who had not experienced Descartes, to embrace modern values and their expression in modern art.
Yet, this difficulty, on the contrary, seemed to extend a "helping hand" to people in the West and the other part of the world who began to question modernity. Toshio Arimoto was one of those who offered such a "helping hand." By connecting to pre-modern Italian painting, Arimoto successfully expressed the spirituality that modernity had lost. His enigmatic, opaque, and mysterious expressions allow for multiple interpretations and stimulate people's imagination, providing a space and time of comfort and tranquility.