Born in Kyoto of a family of painters, Hisao Domoto (1928-2013) studied traditional Japanese painting before travelling to Europe in 1952. This introduced him to Western abstract painting and persuaded him to break with his earlier training.

Resolutely abstract, his work was inspired initially by the theory of Informality. His “Solutions of Continuity” followed: superimposed strips of contrasting colours. Then came his “Possibilities of Chain Reaction”, marrying the theme of the chain to that of the circle, caught in fluid and rhythmical movement, reinforced by vivid and radiant colours.

His design for the 1979 Mouton Rothschild label is a brilliant example of his third period. This is the first label to have been commissioned from a Japanese artist.