A LEADING Japanese artist is to hold a major new exhibition at a Lakes venue.

The exhibition of paintings by Hideyuki Sobue features two leading figures who championed natural beauty in the Lake District, Wordsworth himself, and Canon Harwicke Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust.

It is a welcome return to Rydal Mount, near Ambleside, for Hideyuki, whose epic new portrait of Wordsworth was unveiled there six years ago.

That portrait was one of a series of works on the theme of I wandered, to mark the 200th anniversary of William Wordsworth’s Daffodils, said to be the world’s most famous poem.

Hideyuki completed the works (apart from the drawings) with his unique brush hatching technique using Japanese Sumi ink and acrylic, which he created and has developed over the past 15 years.

The new exhibition will open on August 15 and will run until September.