Kenji Umeda

Kenji Umeda was born in Miyazaki, Japan. He came to Cambridge in the 1970s, and discovered Kettle’s Yard. Umeda befriended Jim Ede, creator of Kettle’s Yard, who was by then almost seventy years old. Ede helped Umeda sell his paintings in Cambridge, and later Umeda began to help with the ongoing cleaning and maintenance of the Kettle’s Yard house. Ede found an almost spiritual pleasure in his daily tasks and shared this appreciation with Umeda. In caring for the house and collection, Umeda came to know the works on display well. He was especially drawn to the sculptures of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. Umeda travelled to Carrara, Italy in the early 1970s, where he studied sculpture at the Accademia Di Belle Arte and met his wife Jacqueline Benard, also an artist. Umeda moved to Phoenix, Arizona in the United States with Jacqueline, where he continued to practice sculpture, specialising in works sited outdoors. Umeda’s work is included in collections such as the Scottsdale Civic Center and the Tuscon Museum of Art in Arizona.