Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎 Katsushika Hokusai) (1760 - 1849), known as simply Hokusai, is a famous Japanese painter and Ukiyo-e maker.

His works were important sources of inspiration for many European impressionists like Claude Monet.

Biography

Hokusai was born in Edo (now Tokyo) in the 9th month of the 10th year of the period Horeki (October-November, 1760) to an artisan family. His father, Nakajima Issai, was a mirror-maker. At age eighteen, after some practice as a wood-engraver, he entered the studio of Katsugawa Shunsho, a painter and designer of color prints. His disregard for the artistic principles of his master caused his expulsion in 1785.

Although from time to time Hokusai studied various styles, he maintained stylistic independence thereafter. For a time he lived in extreme poverty, and, although he must have gained sums for his work which might have secured him comfort, he remained poor, and to the end of his life proudly described himself as a peasant.

He was an eager student to the end of his long life, and said on his deathbed, "If Heaven had lent me but five years more, I would have become a great painter." He died on May 10, 1849. After his death, some of Hokusai's works were displayed in the West and influenced such Western masters as Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh.

Works

Hokusai had a long career, but he produced most of his important work after the age of 60. His most popular work is Ukiyo-e series 36 Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽三十六景 Fugaku Sanjūrokkei), which was created between 1826 and 1833. It consists of 46 images (10 of them added later), but he produced outstanding pictures of almost every kind of subject - flowers, birds and scenery from legends and everyday life.

The largest of Hokusai's works is the 15-volume collection Hokusai Manga (北斎漫画), a book crammed with inventive sketches and was published from 1814.

Some Ukiyo-e from 36 Views:

1st in the series, In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa

2nd in the series, Red Fuji

45th in the series, Travellers Crossing the Oi River

Other work:

The Dragon on Smoke escaping from Mt Fuji (painting)

Erotic: The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife

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