Tag Archives: Katsushika Hokusai

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Previews, Reviews

Top New Museum Exhibits: ‘Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence’ At MFA Boston

March 20, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – Thanks to the popularity of works like the instantly recognizable Great Wave—cited everywhere from book covers and Lego sets to anime and emoji—Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has become one of the most famous and influential artists of all time.

Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence

March 26–July 16, 2023

A bright blue tidal wave crests on choppy waters with a mountainscape in the distance. — Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) (detail), about 1830–31
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection.

Taking a new approach to this endlessly inventive and versatile Japanese artist, “Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence” explores his impact both during his lifetime and beyond. More than 100 woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated books by Hokusai are on view alongside about 200 works by his teachers, students, rivals, and admirers, creating juxtapositions that demonstrate his influence through time and space.

A woodblock print of three boats navigating rough waters with a mountain in the background. — Utagawa Hiroshige, The Sea off Satta in Suruga Province (Suruga Satta kaijō), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fuji sanjūrokkei), 1858
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection.

Book cover for Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence›

The great painter, book illustrator, and print designer Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has become the best known of all Japanese artists and one of…

Members are invited to a special exhibition preview March 22–25 before it opens to the public, and can enjoy members-only hours on Sunday mornings during the run of the show. Join today!

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Reviews

Asian Art: The “Exquisite Stylisation” Of Japanese Woodblock Prints”

June 13, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

From Christie’s Magazine (June 4, 2020):

The Tokugawa dynasty would rule until 1868, and the era became known as the Edo period…It was a time of peace and prosperity, and the arts flourished. Particularly splendid were the ukiyo-e (‘woodblock prints’) — works known for their unusual viewpoints, abrupt cropping, exquisite stylisation, and patches of vivid, unshaded colour.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Kanagawa oki nami ura (In the Well of the Great Wave off Kanagawa), from the series Fugaku sanjurokkei (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji).

‘Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) belong in the pantheon of all-time great artists,’ says Anastasia von Seibold, senior specialist in Japanese Art at Christie’s.

The introduction of colour: nishiki-e

Printing in more than one colour was tricky: it wasn’t until the 1740s that green and pink were tentatively introduced. A huge breakthrough came in 1765, when Suzuki Harunobu (1724-1770) mastered a process that accommodated an array of colours.

Arts & Literature, Books

Best New Art Books: “Hokusai’s Landscapes – The Complete Series”

December 2, 2019 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Hokusai’s landscapes revolutionized Japanese printmaking and became icons of world art within a few decades of the artist’s death. Hokusai’s Landscapes focuses exclusively on this pivotal body of the artist’s work, the first book to do so. Featuring stunning color reproductions of works from the incomparable Japanese art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (the largest collection of Japanese prints outside Japan), Hokusai’s Landscapes examines the magnetic appeal of Hokusai’s designs and the circumstances of their creation.

The best known of all Japanese artists, Katsushika Hokusai was active as a painter, book illustrator and print designer throughout his 90-year lifespan. Yet his most famous works―the color woodblock landscape prints issued in series―were produced within a relatively short time, in an amazing burst of creative energy that lasted from about 1830 to 1836.