Born in 1928 in Kyoto, Japan. Toshimitsu Imai came from a family of scholars, his mother a calligrapher and poet and his father a businessman. He was introduced to painting at a very early age and distinguished himself at school with his watercolours. During the war, he continued at secondary school and developed a passion for Western literature and philosophy.
In 1947 he began to paint, and exhibited in student salons while taking private painting lessons. In 1950, he spent a year at the Tokyo University of Fine Art and familiarised himself with oil painting. In 1952, he had his first solo exhibition at the Shirokya Department Store in Tokyo.
That same year, he decided to go to Paris suddenly without telling his family, and spent two months travelling alone in Europe. He then moved into the Maison du Japon student residence, where he met Yasse Tabuchi, who had arrived earlier. He stayed only two months at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, alongside another compatriot, Kumi Sugai, preferring to study medieval history and philosophy at the Sorbonne.
In 1953 he met Atlan, Michaux, Riopelle and Domoto, and exhibited with Sugai and Tabuchi in a restaurant in Montparnasse. This was followed by his first solo exhibition in Paris at Galerie 25, rue de l'Echaudé, accompanied by a catalogue written by Michel Ragon.
In 1955, he was introduced to the art critic Michel Tapié through Sam Francis. He then joined the Mouvement Informel, and devoted himself to abstraction. He gave birth to a style with dense materials and explosive yet controlled gestures. His meeting with Tapié was decisive and linked the two men around the European and Japanese avant-garde movements for two decades. In 1956, Michel Tapié introduced him to Rodolphe Stadler, who quickly offered him his first group exhibition alongside informal artists Jean Dubuffet, Georges Mathieu and Jenkins. He also introduced him to Léo Castelli, who decided to show his work in New York.
1957 was a pivotal year for Tapié and Imai. In February the Galerie Stadler organised Imai's first solo exhibition, bringing him international recognition. This was followed by an exhibition with Georges Mathieu at the Galerie Kleber. In August 1957, Tapié undertook his famous trip to Japan alongside Mathieu and Imai, with the ambition of introducing the informal movement there. Meetings and performances were organised with the Gutai group through Imai, and in November Sam Francis joined in the festivities. Members of the Gutai movement spoke of an ‘informal storm’. Following this trip, Japanese and European avant-garde artists confronted and influenced each other, and many artists came to live in Paris, mixing with the creative abundance of the time.
In 1959, he exchanged galleries with Luciano Fontana, who had become a close friend, and his work was shown at the famous Galleria del Naviglio in Milan. In 1960, he was invited to the 30th Venice Biennale. In 1961, he took part in a third solo show at the Galerie Stadler, where he met and became friends with André Malraux.
Between 1962 and 1969, Imai had major solo exhibitions, notably at the Galerie Saint-Stephan in Vienna, then three times at the Galleria Il Centro in Naples. At the end of the 1960s, he left the Galerie Stadler and began to paint murals in restaurants in Tokyo and Paris. His whimsical and open personality made him a key figure in artistic and cultural exchanges between Japan and France. Invited to the Sao Paolo Biennale in Brazil, he exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art on several occasions. It was also during this period that he began to frequent Parisian clubs, and in particular painted murals for the ‘Las Vegas’.
Between 1970 and 1980, he produced murals in establishments in Japan, Italy and at the headquarters of major industrial groups in Tokyo. He was invited to take part in an exhibition of post-war Japanese art at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. In 1976, the Centre Pompidou acquired several of his paintings. In 1979, he was offered a solo show in New York at the first Art Dealers Exhibition. In 1982, he was invited by the Centre Pompidou to work in its studios, where he stayed for 2 years. In 1983, he was awarded the title of Officier des Arts et des Lettres by Jack Lang.
From 1985 onwards, he moved into the mature phase of his work with the production of KA-CHO-FU-GETSU ‘Beauties of Nature’, in which, moving away from the informal world, he introduced traditional Japanese repetitive motifs and painting on screens. That same year, he was invited to take part in the famous exhibition celebrating 30 years of the Galerie Stadler, and 40 years of modern art at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.
Between 1988 and 2000, he continued his work and took part in numerous exhibitions in museums in Japan and Europe. He exhibited in Switzerland, at the Bonnier gallery in Geneva in 1988, and produced a four-handed performance with Roberto Matta.
In 1996 he was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in France. Imai passed away in Kyoto in 2002.