| Hokusai |
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| 1760 births | |
| 1849 deaths | |
| ukiyo-e artists | |
| japanese painters | |
| japanese printmakers | |
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Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) ( 1760 - 1849 ) was an Edo Period Japan ese Artist , Painter , Wood Engraver and Ukiyo-e maker, born in Edo (now Tokyo ). Author of the 13-volume Sketchbook '' Hokusai Manga '' (begun in 1814 ) and the Block Prints "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," (created around 1823-1829), which includes "In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa." He is still considered one of the outstanding figures of the Ukiyo-e , or "pictures of the floating world" (transient pleasure-seeking, i.e., the world of theaters, restaurants, teahouses, courtesans and geishas), school of Printmaking . Hokusai is also renowned for his erotic prints in Shunga style. In fact many of the prints of both Hokusai and Sharaku were actually advertisements for Brothel houses and Theaters , performances or idol Portrait s of Actor s and Teahouse girls. His "Fukujusō", a series of twelve prints celebrating the glory of flesh and passion, is considered one of the three greatest shunga works. His art was an important source of inspiration for many European Impressionists like Claude Monet and American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). Both Hokusai and Hiroshige have had an enormous impact on landscape painting worldwide. Ultimately, Hokusai's name is indelibly linked to Whistler's. Not only was Whistler greatly influenced by Hokusai's painting style, but the two artist's works are important in the permanent collection of Asian and American paintings at the Charles Lang Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, in Washington, DC, where they represent one of the earliest and most important compositions of Eastern (Hokusai et al.) and Western (Whistler et al.) aesthetics. 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 Katsukawa Shunsho , a painter and designer of color prints. His disregard for the artistic principles of his master caused his expulsion in 1785 . Between 1796 and 1802 he produced perhaps as many as 30,000 Book Illustration s and Color Prints . He often drew inspiration from the Japanese ordinary life, traditions and legends. In 1824 he published the Book ''New Forms for Design,'' and his designs have inspired many Sashiko Quilting patterns. Hokusai's most typical Wood-block Print s, Silkscreen s, and Landscape Painting s were done between 1830 and 1840. 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, copies of some of his woodblock prints were sent to the West, and along with the works of other ukiyo-e artists, influenced such Western masters as Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin . Katsushika Hokusai is generally more appreciated in Western Culture than in Japan. Many works of Japanese printmakers were Import ed to Europe , especially Paris in the mid- 19th Century . They were collected and popular among Impressionist artists as Claude Monet , Edgar Degas , and Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec , whose works bear signs of influence by Japanese art. Perhaps his most recognized work is the Woodblock "In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa." The scene is of a great wave about to devour the men and boats, with the distant Mount Fuji minimized by the size of the wave. It is said to be a snapshot picture of a day of labor; one can see surprised men on barges, carrying fish. The waves in this work are sometimes mistakenly referred to as '' Tsunami '' (津波), but they are more accurately called '' Okinami '' (沖波), great off-shore waves. 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 Thirty-six 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 that was published in 1814. Its caricatures are often considered the precedent to modern Manga . Some ukiyo-e from ''Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'':
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