Takeo Yamaguchi was an avant garde painter known for his monochrome, geometric works with simple compositions. Having been exposed to major European avant garde movements while staying in Paris, he adopted the formal flatness of Cubism, and eventually the thick brushstrokes of Art Informel, as well as hints from Minimalism and Conceptual art. Upon returning to Japan he was associated with the Nika-kai group, focused on experimentation and abstraction. His paintings are marked by an emphasis on the materiality of paint by reducing the painting to its bare elements, yet contain within them the potential of expanding surface. 

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Yamaguchi was born in 1902 in Seoul, Korea, and passed away in 1983. His work was exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1955 and 1963, the Venice Biennale in 1956, among others. His work is collected in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, along with various museums in Japan.