Takayama Tatsuo entered the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1931 to study painting in the Japanese-style division. In 1933 he enrolled in extra classes given by Matsuoka Eikyu (1881-1938), who in turn was a student of Hashimoto Gaho (1835-1908). After the war, in the later 1940's, the influence of Paul Gaugin in Takayama's work is evident both in color and painting structure. His paintings evolved from being of dark tonalities in the 1950's to paintings with boldy outlined forms in the 1970's. In 1982 Takayama became a visiting professor at his old university in Tokyo.