Takeshi (Ken) Hara was born in Nagoya-shi, Aichi in 1942 and now lives in Tokyo.  He was trained at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music receiving a B.A. in painting in 1967 and an M.A. in painting in 1969.
According to Gaston Petit, “The artist’s reaction to his university years was one of pronounced resistance.  As time went on, he developed a certain allergy to things Western: the plaster models to be copied, the books to be studied, the materials and techniques used, all flowed from Western academies, and students were imbued with Western ideals.  He gravitated toward the print course, where no regulated beauty was dictated and where aesthetic views emerged in a freer atmosphere.”

Hara chose lithography for its “smooth quality of the finish” that “evokes a sensuous coolness…”   “The particular effects that he realized in his lithographs are more apt to be found in silkscreens.  The delicate shadings, subtle blending of colors and luminosity are difficult to achieve, but Hara has developed a special technique with a method of applying the ink with huge rollers to give his work an element of unbelievable smoothness, lushness, and control.”