Nakamura Tsune was more than just a yoga painter with an eye for patchy brushwork and a passion for Renoir.

He was also a skilled portraitist despite his youth, taken too soon from his life’s work at the age of thirty-seven. Nakamura struggled through the pitfalls of tuberculosis, unable to pursue a military career after his diagnosis. During his short career, he produced some of the most captivating tableaus of his era, drawing inspiration from a sizable social circle of artists and free-thinkers.

Nakamura’s biggest influences were perhaps the Sōmas, owners of the Nakamuruya bakery in Tokyo. Nakamura was captivated by young Sōma Toshiko, depicting her in his renowned portrait Girl. Unfortunately, Girl’s critical acclaim wasn’t enough to sway Toshiko’s parents Aizō and Kokkō, who refused Nakamura’s request to marry their teenage daughter. Instead, Toshiko would wed Rash Behari Bose, an Indian revolutionary the Sōmas had hidden in their attic as he evaded arrest. Perhaps Aizō and Kokkō chose wisely, as Bose would later introduce Indian-style chicken curry to Japan in a wildly successful addition to the Nakamuraya’s menu.

Nakamura’s close artistic associate, sculptor Ogiwara Rokuzan, would struggle with his own dosage of unrequited love. This forlorn saga was later dramaticized in Rokuzan’s Love, a 2007 TV movie. Ogiwara shared Nakamura’s close relationship with the Sōma family, but was enamored of Toshiko’s mother, Kokkō. After witnessing Rodin’s The Thinker, Ogiwara was sucked into the world of 3D art. His devotion to the artform culminated in a final masterpiece, a sensational sculpture entitled Woman. Ogiwara’s affections were more secretive than Nakamura’s, but this crowning glory is rumored to be a portrait of Kokko. The wrench in Ogiwara’s happy ending? Kokkō’s husband was Sōma Aizō, founder of the family bakery and Ogiwara’s best friend. There’s no beating a rival who’s invented his own variety of custard bun.