About Hokusai - Japanese ukiyo-e artist

Katherine has researched and written about many British, European and Japanese Artists - both past and present

Learn about Hokusai (1760-1849)

Find out about Hokusai (1760-1849), the famous Japanese ukiyo-e artist and his drawings, artwork and woodblock prints and where you can see and read about them online and in art museums and books.

This site shares information about:

• the life of Hokusai
• the art of Hokusai - his drawings and woodblock prints
• museums, art galleries and exhibitions where you can see Hokusai's artwork in person or images of them online,
• books and articles about Hokusai's life and artwork;
• videos about the man and his images and
• other resources for artists wanting to improve their knowledge about how Hokusai worked

It was created to record the resources I found for a project about Japanese Art in Making A Mark in 2008. This included looking at the work of Hokusai and his use of wood-block prints (ukiyo-e) and their subsequent influence on Impressionism and art in Western Europe in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Hokusai - Self portrait as an old man

VIDEOS: Hokusai on YouTube

Biography of Hokusai

These links are to resources which provide information about what is known about the life of Hokusai

• Artists in 60 Seconds: Katsushika Hokusai
  A profile of Hokusai (1760-1849), Japanese painter, printmaker and draftsman.
• Hokusai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Katsushika Hokusai (September 23, 1760 - May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period.
• Hokusai
  artelino - Biography of Hokusai Katsushika
• Katsushika Hokusai and Japanese Art,
  All about Hokusai, Japanese art, Japanese Waves painting, and The Great Wave, incl. rare paintings.Katsushika Hokusai, Japan's best known artist, is ironically Japan's least Japanese artist. Japan's best known woodblock print, The Great Wave, is very
• HOKUSAI MUSEUM - The Life and Work of Hokusai
  Ukiyo-e artist Hokusai is known to have used over thirty different art names during his seventy years of work. The chronological overview herein has been organized according to seven major periods including the time of Hokusai's apprenticeship for th
• Hokusai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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• Artist Profile: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Asian Art Museum | Education
  Learn about the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).
• Hokusai - encyclopedia article - Citizendium
  Hokusai From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
• LIFE Online: Top People - #86 Hokusai
  TIME.com and LIFE Online review the past 1000 years and look to the future.
• Katsushika Hokusai Ukiyo-e Gallery
  Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849)Hokusai settled on landscape painting around 1798, apparently much inspired by engravings brought in by the Dutch. From this point in middle age, he avidly observed and sketched everything in the world about him, publish
• Hokusai: Biography from Answers.com
  Katsushika Hokusai ( b Edo [now Tokyo], 1760; d Edo, 1849). Japanese painter, draughtsman and printmaker

Making A Mark - posts about Hokusai

The Making A Mark project I undertook in 2008 serves as an INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE ART and ukiyo-e - the Japanese wood block print. Hokusai was one of the artists I studied

I created my blog posts about ukiyo-e and Hokusai from various resources I found online - and I created this website to record the links as I progressed with the project.

Each of the links below is explained in the short descriptions

• MAKING A MARK: The influence of Japanese Art
  An introduction to the project and the resources identified to date
• MAKING A MARK: The elements of ukiyo-e
  Hokusai (1760-1849) is erferred to as the First Manga Master and is certainly the most well known of the ukiyo-e masters

BOOKS: Hokusai on Amazon

VIDEO: Katsushika Hokusai Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

This video was made in connection with the exhibition of The Honolulu Academy of Arts' treasured collection of Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" (actually 46) in 2009/2010.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

This is a colour woodblock oban print. In the The Great Wave' we see fishermen apprehensive in three fishing boats (skiffs). The wave is about to crash down on them and Mount Fuji is framed on the horizon in the hollow of the wave.

36 views of Mount Fuji - a series of landscape prints by Hokusai

"Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" is probably the most well known of all the 'series' of landscape prints produced by Japanese artists. The Hokusai series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" depicts scenes of the famous mountain from around the region. This is the series which "made" Hokusai's name in Japan.

Mounti Fuji in the the Kanto Region of Honshu Island, 100 kilometres (60 mi) south-west of Tokyo, is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m. It last erupted on December 16, 1707.

One of the reasons it is famous is because it has a very symmetrical cone - which is often snow-capped - and hence looks the same from every direction. It is also considered to be a 'holy' or sacred mountain.

The mountain is known to have been a subject for artists, particularly after c.1600. This is because Edo (Tokyo) became the actual capital of Japan and people travelling towards it used to see the mountain when traveling on the Tokaido-road.

The two most famous prints are:

• The Great Wave off Kanagawa
• South Wind, Clear Dawn (aka 'Red Fuji' or 'Fine Wind, Clear Morning')

• Hokusai: 36 Views of Mount Fuji
  The series titled Fugaku Sanju Rokkei (Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji) is undoubtedly the better known work by Hokusai and of all Japanese woodblock print. The re-edition presented here was published by Tamamizawa,in the twentieth century.
• The Great Wave off Kanagawa | LACMA Collections
  The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1830-1831, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• South Wind, Clear Dawn | LACMA Collections
  South Wind, Clear Dawn, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1830-1831, Prints, Color woodblock print, This print, often called Red Fuji, is the greatest design in Hokusai's most famous series of prints, Thirty-six Views of Mt.
• Mt. Fuji Seen from the Minobu River | LACMA Collections
  Mt. Fuji Seen from the Minobu River, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1830-1832, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• The Waterwheel at Onden | LACMA Collections
  The Waterwheel at Onden, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1830-1832, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• Mt. Rokuso in Kazusa Province | LACMA Collections
  Mt. Rokuso in Kazusa Province, Utagawa Hiroshige (Japan, Edo, 1797-1858), 1858, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• Suruga-chō in the Eastern Capital | LACMA Collections
  Suruga-chō in the Eastern Capital, Utagawa Hiroshige (Japan, Edo, 1797-1858), Japan, circa 1858-1859, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• The Ōtsuki Plain in Kai Province | LACMA Collections
  The Ōtsuki Plain in Kai Province, Utagawa Hiroshige (Japan, Edo, 1797-1858), Japan, 1858, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• The Oi River between Suruga and Totomi Provinces | LACMA Collections
  The Oi River between Suruga and Totomi Provinces, Utagawa Hiroshige (Japan, Edo, 1797-1858), 1858, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• Rough Seas at Shichiri Beach in Sagami Province | LACMA Collections
  Rough Seas at Shichiri Beach in Sagami Province, Utagawa Hiroshige (Japan, Edo, 1797-1858), Japan, circa 1851-1852, Prints, Color woodblock print.

Curator Ann Yonemura on Hokusai - Hokusai: 36 Views of Mount Fuji - Arthur M. Sackler Gallery March 24--June 17, 2012

Curator Ann Yonemura talks on video about "36 Views of Mount Fuji" and the exhibition at the Sackler Gallery

• The series of prints were first published for the New Year of 1831
• it established the landscape as a new subject and hence became a landmark in Japanese art
• the series also incorporated innovative compositions, techniques, and coloration and establishing.
• the exhibition at the Sackler presents examples of all 46 prints in the series - including several rare, early printings featuring unusual coloration
• There are 46 prints in a series titled "36 Views of Mount Fuji" because the designs became very popular and everybody knew the series by its original title.

BOOKS: Hokusai and Manga - books on Amazon

Hokusai in Museums and Art Galleries

These are museums and galleries which own works by Hokusai. If you want to see them:

• Check before you visit to see if they are on display or
• search the online collection

• Hokusai | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  Collection of 1715 images - woodblock prints coloured with ink
• Katsushika Hokusai | Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), or the Great Wave, from th
  Object Page | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Great Wave at Kanagawa (from a Series of Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji), Edo period (1615-1868)Related Timeline Content Japan, 1800-1900 A.D. Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e S
• Katsushika Hokusai, Shichiri-ga-hama [Beach] in Suruga Province, a colour woodlblock print
  From the series 'Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji' (Fugaku sanjū-rokkei)
• Hokusai | Freer & Sackler Galleries
  Online Exhibitions | Freer Sackler GalleriesHokusai - Mad about painting (2006 exhibition)
• Search | LACMA Collections
  Hokusai in the collection at LACMA
• HOKUSAI MUSEUM - Summary of the Museum Collection
  Selected works from the Hokusai Museum collection.Please click title or picture for a broader view of each work.
• HOKUSAI MUSEUM - Obuse (central Japan)
  The HOKUSAI Museum[Japanese | English]The Hokusai Museum opened in 1976 in Obuse, a town in central Japan. On-line display and brief descriptions of selected works from the Hokusai collection.
• TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM Special Exhibition HOKUSAI
  HOKUSAI Exhibition Heiseikan Tuesday, October 25 - Sunday, December 4, 2005As the most famous Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) immediately brings to mind the images of his justly famous Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji series. But actually
• South Wind, Clear Dawn | LACMA Collections
  South Wind, Clear Dawn, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1830-1831, Prints, Color woodblock print, This print, often called Red Fuji, is the greatest design in Hokusai's most famous series of prints, Thirty-six Views of Mt.
• Temma Bridge, Settsu Province | LACMA Collections
  Temma Bridge, Settsu Province, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1835, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• The Waterwheel at Onden | LACMA Collections
  The Waterwheel at Onden, Katsushika Hokusai (Japan, 1760-1849), Japan, circa 1830-1832, Prints, Color woodblock print.
• Joshu, Ushibori | LACMA Collections
  Joshu, Ushibori, (Japan, 19th-20th century), Japan, 19th century, Prints, Color woodblock print, reproduction.

Exhibitions of artwork by Hokusai

• Honolulu Museum of Art | Hokusai's Summit: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji
  Hokusai's Summit: Thirty-Six Views of Mount FujiSeptember 23, 2009 - January 06, 2010Henry Luce Gallery
• Honolulu Museum of Art | One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets
  One Hundred Poems by One Hundred PoetsOctober 08, 2009 - November 22, 2009Robert F. Lange Foundation Gallery (21)the One Hundred Poems series was Hokusai's last major accomplishment as a woodblock print designer
• Japanese Prints: Hokusai at LACMA | LACMA
  Japanese Prints: Hokusai at LACMAPavilion for Japanese ArtApril 13, 2013–July 28, 2013The museum's collection includes excellent prints by the renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849).

Exhibition Catalogue: Hokusai and Hiroshige: Great Japanese Prints - from the James a Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts

Amazon reviews: 4.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

Includes 200 prints from the Great Japanese Prints Exhibition. This focuses on prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige from the James A Michener Collection

Online Galleries of work by Hokusai

• Visipix - Hokusai
  Nearly 3,000 pictures of Holusai - of indeterminate origin
• Jim Breen's Ukiyo-E Gallery - Hokusai
  Katsushika Hokusai is probably best known for his landscape pictures. By far his most famous works are his 36-picture set "Mt Fuji Views", produced in 1827. 10 supplementary prints were added over the following decade.
• Katsushika Hokusai - WikiPaintings.org
  all artworks by Katsushika Hokusai listed on WikiPaintings.org

VIDEO: Hokusai and Hiroshige: Great Japanese Prints from the James A. Michener Collection

Comments and suggestions - Let me know what you think - but please do not spam

Issis666 on February 27, 2014:

Fantastic site, thank you for providing such a comprehensive overview ... Hokusai is such a master.

Toshidama-Gallery on November 12, 2010:

Hi, it's very good to see such a fine artist as Hokusai gaining exposure, maybe Japanese art lovers on Squidoo should form a group of some kind?

Katherine Tyrrell (author) from London on September 08, 2010:

@anonymous: I normally never ever allow comments like this - but I checked this out on iTunes and it's not bad!

anonymous on September 08, 2010:

As a german artist and composer, Katsushika Hokusai is my favorite japanese artist.I composed for him a musical homage. You can hear this worldwide! Go to iTunes. Go to Andreas Pfalzer. Go to Hokusai.

iampersona on May 06, 2010:

Cool lens. I found out about Hokusai's 50 identities really interesting analogy with branding. http://iampersona.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/let-you...

California_Dreamin on April 03, 2009:

Hokusai is my favorite Japanese artist.

Katherine Tyrrell (author) from London on June 17, 2008:

Sara - if you feel knowledgeable enough to rate this site as "boring but OKish info" presumably you also knew some better sites? What a pity that you failed to name and share them with the other readers of this site!I'm struggling to find better websites so I'm afraid I find comments like this to be very tedious - and very boring! Next time please say how it can be improved.

anonymous on June 15, 2008:

boring....but ok ish info

manpride on June 09, 2008:

Great lens on Hokusai and ukiyo-e.