Katsushika Hokusai Prints

Japanese Woodblock Art

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was one of the most famous ukiyo-e printmakers of the Edo period. He was born to a mirror maker in a family of artisans working in Edo (now Tokyo). When he was 12 he became an apprentice to a woodcarver, laying the foundation for his fruitful career as a woodblock printer. At the age of 18 he started a printing apprenticeship with the notable ukiyo-e master Katsukawa Shunshō. Under the tutelage of Shunshō, Hokusai created his famous kabuki actor series.

As he became more esablished, Hokusai branched out and took more risks. He studied Western style painting, developed the earliest form of manga, and created enormous paintings for festivals. Hokusai is said to have used a broom to make the brush strokes on one of his huge canvases. He also dipped a chicken's feet in red paint and chased the animal across a canvas to create stamps of red autumn leaves.

Later in his career, Hokusai set aside courtesans and kabuki actors as subjects in favor of nature. His lifelong love Mount Fuji inspired his famous series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji; each painting in the set contains a partial view of the iconic mountain. Sometimes Mount Fuji is the centerpiece, sometimes it is an element in the background. The Great Wave at Kanagawa is the most renowned image in the series, and the most popular ukiyo-e work of all time. It is one of the most recognizeable and frequently reproduced works of art in the world. (Images courtesy of Allposters.com.)