Kimura Buzan was born in Ibaragi Prefecture. He studied nihonga first under Kawabata Gyokusho (1842-1913), then entered the Tokyo Art School. There, Buzan was taught painting by Gyokusho, Hashimoto Gaho (1835-1908), and others, and aesthetics by the school's headmaster, Okakura Tenshin (1862-1913), graduating in 1896. Buzan went on to become a founding member of the Japan Art Institute, remaining one of its most loyal members. When the Art Institute fell upon hard times, Okakura moved it to the remote seaside village, Izura, in Ibaragi Prefecture. Only Buzan, his close associates Shimomura Kanzan (1873-1930), Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958), and Hishida Shunso (1874-1911) made the move. After Okakura's death in 1913, Kanzan, Taikan, and Buzan refounded the Institute, leading it to the prosperity it enjoys even today. Buzan, like his fellows, was a regular exhibitor in the original Bunten, showed in Inten (the Institute exhibition), as well as serving as judge for the Ibaragi Prefectural Competitive Exhibitions.

Buzan's style was initially characterized by historical subjects and rich colors, and he became adept at painting in the no-line style of Taikan's and Shunso's morotai. He later turned to bird-and-flower themes and Buddhist subjects drawn in a colorful but more muted palette supported by lightly colored outlines, such as are represented in this sale.