, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk t ...

artist of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the

woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

series '' Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the iconic print ''

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large wave forming a spiral in the centre ...

''. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ''ukiyo-e'' from a style of

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

largely focused on

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ...

s and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. Hokusai created the monumental ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' as a response to a domestic travel boom in Japan and as part of a personal interest in Mount Fuji. It was this series, specifically, ''The Great Wave off Kanagawa'' and ''

Fine Wind, Clear Morning , also known as ''Red Fuji'', is a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai (1760–1849), part of his '' Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'' series, dating from to 1832. The work has been described as "one of the simplest and at the same time on ...

'', that secured his fame both in Japan and overseas. Hokusai was best known for his woodblock ukiyo-e prints, but he worked in a variety of mediums including painting and book illustration. Starting as a young child, he continued working and improving his style until his death, aged 88. In a long and successful career, Hokusai produced over 30,000 paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, and images for picture books in total. Innovative in his compositions and exceptional in his drawing technique, Hokusai is considered one of the greatest masters in the

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

Early life

Katsushika Hokusai - Courtesan asleep - Google Art Project

Hokusai's date of birth is unclear, but is often stated as the 23rd day of the 9th month of the 10th year of the

Hōreki , also known as Horyaku, was a after '' Kan'en'' and before ''Meiwa''. The period spanned the years from October 1751 through June 1764. The reigning emperor and empress were and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834 ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 41 ...

era (in the

old calendar Old Calendarists (Greek language, Greek: ''palaioimerologitai'' or ''palaioimerologites''), also known as Old Feasters (''palaioeortologitai''), Genuine Orthodox Christians or True Orthodox Christians (GOC; ), are traditionalist groups of Easte ...

, or 31 October 1760) to an

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

family, in the

Katsushika is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward calls itself Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km². The total area is 34.80 ...

district of Edo, the capital of the ruling

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. His childhood name was Tokitarō. It is believed his father was Nakajima Ise, a

mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...

-maker for the

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...

. His father never made Hokusai an heir, so it is possible that his mother was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

. Hokusai began painting around the age of six, perhaps learning from his father, whose work included the painting of designs around mirrors. Hokusai was known by at least thirty names during his lifetime. While the use of multiple names was a common practice of Japanese artists of the time, his number of

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s exceeds that of any other major Japanese artist. His name changes are so frequent, and so often related to changes in his artistic production and style, that they are used for breaking his life up into periods. At the age of 12, his father sent him to work in a bookshop and

lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a library ...

, a popular institution in Japanese cities, where reading books made from woodcut blocks was a popular entertainment of the middle and upper classes. At 14, he worked as an apprentice to a woodcarver, until the age of 18, when he entered the studio of

Katsukawa Shunshō Shunshō Katsukawa ( ja, 勝川春章; 1726 – 19 January 1793) was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the '' ukiyo-e'' style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō studied under Miyagawa Shunsui, son and student of M ...

. Shunshō was an artist of ''

'', a style of woodblock prints and paintings that Hokusai would master, and head of the so-called Katsukawa school. ''Ukiyo-e'', as practised by artists like Shunshō, focused on images of the

s (''

bijin-ga is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia o ...

'') and

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

actors (''

yakusha-e ''Yakusha-e'' (役者絵), often referred to as "actor prints" in English, are Japanese woodblock prints or, rarely, paintings, of kabuki actors, particularly those done in the '' ukiyo-e'' style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) an ...

'') who were popular in Japan's cities at the time. After a year, Hokusai's name changed for the first time, when he was dubbed Shunrō by his master. It was under this name that he published his first prints, a series of pictures of kabuki actors published in 1779. During the decade he worked in Shunshō's studio, Hokusai was married to his first wife, about whom very little is known except that she died in the early 1790s. He married again in 1797, although this second wife also died after a short time. He fathered two sons and three daughters with these two wives, and his youngest daughter Ei, also known as Ōi, eventually became an artist and his assistant. ''Fireworks in the Cool of Evening at Ryogoku Bridge in Edo'' () dates from this period of Hokusai's life. Upon the death of Shunshō in 1793, Hokusai began exploring other styles of art, including European styles he was exposed to through French and Dutch copper engravings he was able to acquire. He was soon expelled from the Katsukawa school by Shunkō, the chief disciple of Shunshō, possibly due to his studies at the rival

Kanō school The is one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting. The Kanō school of painting was the dominant style of painting from the late 15th century until the Meiji period which began in 1868, by which time the school had divided into many di ...

. This event was, in his own words, inspirational: "What really motivated the development of my artistic style was the embarrassment I suffered at Shunkō's hands." Hokusai also changed the subjects of his works, moving away from the images of courtesans and actors that were the traditional subjects of ukiyo-e. Instead, his work became focused on landscapes and images of the daily life of Japanese people from a variety of social levels. This change of subject was a breakthrough in ukiyo-e and in Hokusai's career.

Middle period

The next period saw Hokusai's association with the Tawaraya School and the adoption of the name "Tawaraya Sōri". He produced many privately commissioned prints for special occasions (''

surimono are a genre of Japanese woodblock print. They were privately commissioned for special occasions such as the New Year. Surimono literally means "printed thing". Being produced in small numbers for a mostly educated audience of ''literati'', ...

''), and illustrations for books of humorous poems (''kyōka ehon'') during this time. In 1798, Hokusai passed his name on to a pupil and set out as an independent artist, free from ties to a school for the first time, adopting the name Hokusai Tomisa. By 1800, Hokusai was further developing his use of ukiyo-e for purposes other than portraiture. He had also adopted the name he would most widely be known by, Katsushika Hokusai, the former name referring to the part of Edo where he was born, the latter meaning 'north studio', in honour of the

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude tha ...

, symbol of a deity important in his religion of

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one o ...

. That year, he published two collections of landscapes, ''Famous Sights of the Eastern Capital'' and ''Eight Views of Edo'' (modern Tokyo). He also began to attract students of his own, eventually teaching 50 pupils over the course of his life. He became increasingly famous over the next decade, both due to his artwork and his talent for self-promotion. During an Edo festival in 1804, he created an enormous portrait of the Buddhist prelate Daruma, said to be 200 square meters, using a broom and buckets full of ink. Another story places him in the court of the

Tokugawa Ienari Tokugawa Ienari ( ja, 徳川家斉, November 18, 1773 – March 22, 1841) was the eleventh and longest-serving ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern J ...

, invited there to compete with another artist who practised more traditional brushstroke painting. Hokusai painted a blue curve on paper, then chased a chicken whose feet had been dipped in red paint across the image. He described the painting to the shōgun as a landscape showing the Tatsuta River with red maple leaves floating in it, winning the competition. Between 1804 and 1815 saw Hokusai collaborate with the popular novelist

Takizawa Bakin (), a.k.a. (, 4 July 1767 – 1 December 1848), was a Japanese novelist of the Edo period. Born (), he wrote under the pen name (). Later in life he took the pen name (). Modern scholarship generally refers to him as , or just as n. He is ...

on a series of illustrated books. Especially popular was the fantasy novel ''Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki'' (''Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon'', 1807–1811) with Minamoto no Tametomo as the main character, and Hokusai gained fame with his creative and powerful illustrations, but the collaboration ended after thirteen works. There are various theories as to why they dissolved their cooperation, such as discordant personalities and conflicting opinions on how to draw illustrations. Hokusai also created several albums of

erotic art Erotic art is a broad field of the visual arts that includes any artistic work intended to evoke erotic arousal. It usually depicts human nudity or sexual activity, and has included works in various visual mediums, including drawings, engr ...

(''

shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...

''). His most famous image in this genre is ''

The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife , also known as ''Girl Diver and Octopi'', ''Diver and Two Octopi'', etc., is a woodblock-printed design by the Japanese artist Hokusai. It is included in ('Young Pines'), a three-volume book of erotica first published in 1814, and has become ...

'', which depicts a young woman entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses, from '' Kinoe no Komatsu'', a three-volume book of shunga from 1814. Hokusai paid close attention to the production of his work. In letters during his involvement with ''Toshisen Ehon'', a Japanese edition of an anthology of Chinese poetry, Hokusai wrote to the publisher that the blockcutter Egawa Tomekichi, with whom Hokusai had previously worked and whom he respected, had strayed from Hokusai's style in the cutting of certain heads. He also wrote directly to another blockcutter involved in the project, Sugita Kinsuke, stating that he disliked the

Utagawa school The Utagawa school () was one of the main schools of ukiyo-e, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu. It was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period. The main styles were bijin-ga (beautiful women) and uki-e (perspective picture). His pupil, Toyokuni I, too ...

style in which Kinsuke had cut the figure's eyes and noses and that amendments were needed for the final prints to be true to his style. In his letter, Hokusai included examples of both his style of illustrating eyes and noses and the Utagawa school style. In 1811, at the age of 51, Hokusai changed his name to ''Taito'' and entered the period in which he created the '' Hokusai Manga'' and various ''etehon'', or art manuals. These manuals beginning in 1812 with ''Quick Lessons in Simplified Drawing'', were intended as a convenient way to make money and attract more students. The first volume of ''Manga'' (meaning random drawings) was published in 1814 and was an immediate success. By 1820, he had produced twelve volumes (with three more published posthumously) which include thousands of drawings of objects, plants, animals, religious figures, and everyday people, often with humorous overtones. On 5 October 1817, he painted the '' Great Daruma'' outside the

Hongan-ji Nagoya Betsuin The Hongan-ji Nagoya Betsuin (本願寺派名古屋別院) is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple located in Naka ward, Nagoya in central Japan. The temple is a short distance south of Ōsu Kannon Station. It is also known a ''Nishi Betsuin'' (西� ...

in Nagoya. This portrait in ink on paper measured 18 × 10.8 metres, and the event drew huge crowds. The feat was recounted in a popular song and he received the name "''Darusen'' or "Daruma Master" Although the original was destroyed in 1945, Hokusai's promotional handbills from that time survived and are preserved at the

Nagoya City Museum The is a museum of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The Nagoya City Museum was established in 1977. Its collection includes archaeological materials, fine art, crafts, documents, books and folk materials including samurai armor a ...

. In 1820, Hokusai changed his name yet again, this time to "Iitsu," a change which marked the start of a period in which he secured fame as an artist throughout Japan. His most celebrated work, '' Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'', including the famous ''

Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large wave forming a spiral in the centre a ...

'' and '' Red Fuji'' was produced in the early 1830s. The results of Hokusai's perspectival studies in ''Manga'' can be seen here in ''The Great Wave'' where he uses what would have been seen as a western perspective to represent depth and volume. It proved so popular that ten more prints were later added to the series. Among the other popular series of prints he made during this time are ''

A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces ''A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces'' (''Shokoku taki meguri'') is a series of landscape Woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock prints by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. Completed and containing eight prints, it was the first ukiyo ...

'', '' Oceans of Wisdom'' and ''Unusual Views of Celebrated Bridges in the Provinces''. He also began producing a number of detailed individual images of flowers and birds ('' kachō-e''), including the extraordinarily detailed ''Poppies'' and ''Flock of Chickens''.

Later life

Portrait of Katsushika Hokusai by disciple Keisai Eisen

The next period, beginning in 1834, saw Hokusai working under the name "Gakyō Rōjin" (; "The Old Man Mad About Art"). It was at this time that he produced '' One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji'', another significant series, generally considered "the masterpiece among his landscape picture books". In the colophon to this work, Hokusai writes: In 1839, a fire destroyed Hokusai's studio and much of his work. By this time, his career was beginning to fade as younger artists such as Andō Hiroshige became increasingly popular. At the age of 83, Hokusai traveled to

Obuse is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 10,999 in 3832 households, and a population density of 580 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography Obuse is located in northern Nagano Pr ...

in Shinano Province (now Nagano Prefecture) at the invitation of a wealthy farmer, Takai Kozan where he stayed for several years. During his time in Obuse, he created several masterpieces, included the ''Masculine Wave'' and the ''Feminine Wave''. Between 1842 and 1843, in what he described as "daily exorcisms" (''nisshin joma''), Hokusai painted Chinese lions ('' shishi'') every morning in ink on paper as a

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

against misfortune. Hokusai continued working almost until the end, painting ''The Dragon of Smoke Escaping from Mt Fuji'' and '' Tiger in the Snow'' in early 1849.Tsuji Nobou in Calza (2003), p. 72 Constantly seeking to produce better work, he apparently exclaimed on his deathbed, "If only Heaven will give me just another ten years ... Just another five more years, then I could become a real painter." He died on 10 May 1849 and was buried at the Seikyō-ji in Tokyo (Taito Ward). The Grave of Katsushika Hokusai

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...

he composed shortly before his death reads: "Though as a ghost, I shall lightly tread, the summer fields." File:Hokusai Dragon.jpg, ''Dragon'' on the Higashimachi Festival Float, Obuse, 1844 File:Femenine wave.jpg, ''Feminine Wave'', painted while living in

, 1845 File:Hokusai-fuji-koryuu.png, ''The Dragon of Smoke Escaping From Mount Fuji'', painting, 1849 File:Hokusai, Tiger in the Snow.jpg, '' Tiger in the Snow'', hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk, 1849

Selected works

File:Katsushika Hokusai, tempesta sotto la vetta, dalla serie delle 36 vedute del monte fuji, 1831 ca.jpg, ''

Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit , also known as ''Rainstorm Beneath the Summit'', or sometimes ''Black Fuji'' (黒富士 ''Kurofuji'') is a woodcut print by the Japanese ukiyo-e master Hokusai (1760–1849). It is one of the most famous prints from his celebrated '' Thirty-six V ...

'',
from '' Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'' File:Hokusai au musée Guimet (8207452088).jpg, ''Kirifuri waterfall at Kurokami Mountain in Shimotsuke'',
from '' A Tour of Japanese Waterfalls'' File:Tako_to_ama_retouched.jpg, ''

'' (1814), included in '' Kinoe no Komatsu'', a three-volume book of shunga erotica File:Hokusai (1828) Cuckoo and Azaleas.jpg, ''Cuckoo and Azaleas'', 1834
from the Small Flower series File:Egrets from Quick Lessons in Simplified Drawing, Hokusai, 1823.jpg,

Egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s from ''Quick Lessons in Simplified Drawing'' File:Carp leaping up a cascade.jpg, ''Carp Leaping up a Cascade'' File:Katsushika Hokusai - The Lantern Ghost, Iwa - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Ghost of Oiwa'',
from ''

One Hundred Ghost Stories ''One Hundred Ghost Stories'' (, ''Hyaku monogatari'') is a series of ukiyo-e woodblock prints made by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) in the Yūrei-zu genre circa 1830. He created this series around the same time he was creating his most famous w ...

'' File:Hokusai-shikishiban-still-life.jpg, ''Still Life'',

print File:Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Koshu Kajikazawa).jpg , ''

Kajikazawa in Kai Province is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. It was produced as one of the '' Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'' series which was published from in the late Edo period. The image is considered one of the masterpieces of the seri ...

'',
from '' Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'' File:Unusual Views of Celebrated Bridges in the Provinces-Sesshuu Tenmabashi.jpg, ''Tenma Bridge in Setsu Province'',
from ''Rare Views of Famous Japanese Bridges'' File:Hokusai 1760-1849 Ocean waves.jpg, ''Chōshi in Shimosha'',
from '' Oceans of Wisdom'' File:The Big wave from 100 views of the Fuji, 2nd volume.jpg, "The Big Wave" from '' One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji'' File:Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Veld in de Owari provincie (1829-33).jpg, ''Amida Falls'',
from '' A Tour of Japanese Waterfalls''

Influences on art and culture

Debussy - La Mer - The great wave of Kanaga from Hokusai

Hokusai had achievements in various fields as an artist. He made designs for book illustrations and woodblock prints, sketches, and painting for over 70 years. Hokusai was an early experimenter with western linear perspective among Japanese artists. Hokusai himself was influenced by

Sesshū Tōyō (c. 1420 – 26 August 1506) has been regarded as one of the greatest painters in Japanese history. Sesshū was a Zen-Shu priest painter of the Muromachi period in Japan, prominently recognised for his art of sumi-e (black ink painting). Initi ...

and other styles of

Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...

. His influences stretched across the globe to his western contemporaries in nineteenth-century Europe with

Japonism ''Japonisme'' is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858. Japo ...

, which started with a craze for collecting Japanese art, particularly ukiyo-e, of which some of the first samples were to be seen in Paris, when in about 1856, the French artist

Félix Bracquemond Félix Henri Bracquemond (22 May 1833 – 29 October 1914) was a French painter, etcher, and printmaker. He played a key role in the revival of printmaking, encouraging artists such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro to use th ...

first came across a copy of the sketchbook ''Hokusai Manga'' at the workshop of his printer. He influenced the

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

movement, with themes echoing his work appearing in the work of

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as well as Art Nouveau, or

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

in Germany. His woodcuts were collected by many European artists, including

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, Klimt, Franz Marc, August Macke,

Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...

, and

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

. Degas said of him, "Hokusai is not just one artist among others in the Floating World. He is an island, a continent, a whole world in himself." Hermann Obrist's whiplash motif, or ''Peitschenhieb'', which came to exemplify the new movement, is visibly influenced by Hokusai's work. Even after his death, exhibitions of his artworks continue to grow. In 2005, Tokyo National Museum held a Hokusai exhibition which had the largest number of visitors of any exhibit there that year. Several paintings from the Tokyo exhibition were also exhibited in the United Kingdom. The British Museum held the first exhibition of Hokusai's later year artworks including '''The Great Wave in 2017. Hokusai inspired the Hugo Award–winning short story by science fiction author

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

, " 24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai", in which the protagonist tours the area surrounding Mount Fuji, stopping at locations painted by Hokusai. A 2011 book on mindfulness closes with the poem "Hokusai Says" by Roger Keyes, preceded with the explanation that " metimes poetry captures the soul of an idea better than anything else." In the 1985 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Richard Lane characterizes Hokusai as "since the later 19th century avingimpressed Western artists, critics and art lovers alike, more, possibly, than any other single Asian artist". '''Store Selling Picture Books and Ukiyo-e by Hokusai shows how

during the time was actually sold; it shows how these prints were sold at local shops, and ordinary people could buy ukiyo-e. Unusually in this image, Hokusai used a hand-colored approach instead of using several separated woodblocks. His youngest daughter Ei has her own manga and film called '' Miss Hokusai''. A biographical film about the painter was released in Japan on May 28, 2021. It was premiered at the 33rd

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

Notes

References

* * Lane, Richard (1978). ''Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ; . * Nagata, Seiji (1995). ''Hokusai: Genius of the Japanese Ukiyo-e''. Tokyo: Kodansha International. * Ray, Deborah Kogan (2001). ''Hokusai: The Man Who Painted a Mountain''. New York: Frances Foster Books. . * Smith, Henry D. II (1988). ''Hokusai: One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji''. New York: George Braziller, Inc., Publishers. . * Weston, Mark (1999). ''Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Most Influential Men and Women''. New York: Kodansha International. .