Katsushika Hokusai

1760-1849 Japanese

Katsushika Hokusai

Master of Mount Fuji woodblock prints

Katsushika Hokusai, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽三十六景, Fugaku Sanjūroku-kei, c. 1831) which includes the internationally iconic print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai created the Thirty-Six Views both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. It was this series, specifically The Great Wave print and Fine Wind, Clear Morning, that secured Hokusai’s fame both in Japan and overseas. As historian Richard Lane concludes, "if there is one work that made Hokusai’s name, both in Japan and abroad, it must be this monumental print-series". While Hokusai’s work prior to this series is certainly important, it was not until this series that he gained broad recognition.

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