In about the year 1812, Hokusai’s eldest son died. This tragedy was not only an emotional but also an economic event, for, as adopted heir to the affluent Nakajima family, the son had been instrumental in obtaining a generous stipend for Hokusai, so that he did not need to worry about the uncertainties of income from his paintings, designs, and illustrations, which at this period were paid for more with “gifts” than with set fees. To find out what happened to manga in the intervening century, you might want to take a look at this interesting blog by my colleagues Ryōko Matsuba and Alfred Haft. van Rappard-Boon, Charlotte (1982). Hokusai and his School: Japanese Prints c. 1800–1840 (Catalogue of the Collection of Japanese Prints, Rijksmuseum, Part III). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everythingran from 30 September 2021 to 30 January 2022. Read more about the show or become a Member to enjoy our upcoming special exhibitions – join today. For readers who want more information on specific works of art by Hokusai, these particular works are recommended.

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. [7] Middle period [ edit ] Image of bathers from the Hokusai Manga Contemporary print of Hokusai painting the Great Daruma in 1817 The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Hokusai's most famous print, the first in the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1829–1832 Fine Wind, Clear Morning (or Red Fuji),

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Browse the Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow Collection of Japanese illustrated books at The Metropolitan Museum of Art A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poetry ( Shika shashin kyo), produced in about 1833 to 1834, was printed in extra-long vertical formats resembling the form of Chinese hand scrolls. Prints in this series include poems by Chinese and Japanese poets combined with scenes in those countries, and scenes from Noh plays (a form of dance theater predating kabuki). Ten designs in this series survive. [28] Hokusai is often categorised as an artist of the Floating World ( ukiyo), a reference to the Edo period's (1615–1868) distinctive world of the theatre, pleasure quarters and popular culture. But he was much more. He was a sympathetic observer of contemporary society, a synthesiser of East Asian and European painting techniques, and a teacher who shared his joy as an artist in dozens of manuals on drawing and painting.

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. [7] [8] Fireworks in the Cool of Evening at Ryogoku Bridge in Edo ( c. 1788–89) dates from this period of Hokusai's life. [9] This letter, written about New Year’s Day, has, as a header, a sketch in which the painter, in official garb, between two fir branches, is taking a deep bow. “There are several doors at which I must express my wishes for the New Year, so I will return another day, and goodbye, goodbye… But, until then, concerning the drawings to be engraved, please discuss the details with Yegawa. However, a bit later you will find a recommendation for the other woodcutters. Thank you for your frequent loans. I think that by the beginning of the second month of the year, I will have used up the paper, the colours, the brushes, and that I will be forced to go to Edo, in person, so I will visit you secretly and give you, orally, all the details that you may need. In this harsh season, above all during my travels, all things are very difficult, and among others, living in this severe cold with one lone robe, at the age of seventy-six. I ask you to think of the sad conditions in which I find myself, but my arm (here a sketch of his arm) has not weakened the least, and I work with determination. My only pleasure is becoming a good artist.” At the end of the letter, he represents himself in a microscopic sketch, humbly saluting between his hat and his drawing set on the ground." One of the most interesting feature of his works is that Hokusai liked to draw series of pictures united by some common theme. These series are funny and diverse, and while every single picture from a series could not look very impressive, the whole row of pictures in one series represents so many different aspects of one subject and just looks perfect esthetically. Lane, Richard (1978). Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-211447-1; OCLC 5246796. Thompson, Sarah E. (2019). Hokusai's landscapes: the complete series (Firsted.). Boston: MFA publications Museum of fine arts. pp.167–203. ISBN 978-0-87846-866-9.Old Tiger in the Snow is one of Hokusai's last works and can be read as autobiographical, expressing Hokusai's feelings on his own age and the process of aging. The red seal in the lower right corner reads '100,' a detail which some critics have suggested could mean Hokusai was willing himself to live longer. The tiger, too, can be seen as a representation of the artist's energy and ambition, at an advanced age or as he moves into the afterlife. The tiger holds its head high and has a satisfied expression on its face as he moves forward with no sign of slowing down, suggesting contentment and fearlessness. Thompson, Sarah E. (2019). Hokusai's landscapes: the complete series (Firsted.). Boston: MFA publications Museum of fine arts. pp.151–165. ISBN 978-0-87846-866-9.

He was not only talented but also highly professional: he could draw with any tools, in any scales, using any media (paints, ink, pencils, whatever). Imagine this performance of him: Tsuyuki Kōshō (Iitsu III, died after 1893), Hokusai and Eijo in their lodgings. Ink on paper, before 1893. National Diet Library, Tokyo. The moment which Hokusai has chosen to depict, when the wave is on the brink of breaking and of obscuring Mount Fuji, on the horizon and consequently much smaller than the wave, heightens the tension in the image. Hokusai, instead of deploying the traditional bird's eye perspective used in Japanese prints, as he had in earlier sketches of waves, uses mathematical perspective - in which objects that are further away are shown as smaller - to create a sense of depth in the image and puts the viewer "inside" the scene. Hokusai had been experimenting with European approaches to perspective since encountering the work of Shiba Kokan, in the 1790s, who had studied Dutch works at Nagasaki in the 1790s, when it was the only port open to foreigners. The wide range of blue tones deployed by Hokusai, also, was made possible by the introduction of Prussian blue to Japan during Hokusai's lifetime. Hokusai introduced European perspective to Japanese printmaking, often taking a significant focal point and arranging his prints around this. He used various framing mechanisms to emphasize these focal points and create depth in his images. While twenty-first century viewers are used to seeing prints arranged in this way, the technique was unprecedented in Hokusai's day and it was due to his influence that it became a widespread tactic in Japanese printmaking. In addition to providing titillation to viewers, such images were seen as offering protection to the owner. The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife was published in a volume of shunga published by Hokusai in 1814; he continued work in this genre until 1821, by which point he had published three volumes. While European critics have often mistakenly labelled the scene a rape, the text makes clear that this is a scene of mutual pleasure. It is likely that contemporary Japanese viewers would have been reminded of a popular story about a pearl diver who descends to an undersea palace, pursued by sea creatures, to save a stolen pearl belonging to her lover.

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The Asahi Shimbun Company is a longstanding corporate sponsor of the British Museum. The Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese leading newspaper and the company also provides a substantial information service via the internet. The company has a century-long tradition of philanthropic support, notably staging key exhibitions in Japan on art, culture and history from around the world. In addition to supporting Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything, The Asahi Shimbun Company also supports The Asahi Shimbun Displays in Room 3 and is a committed supporter of the British Museum touring exhibition programme in Japan. They are the funder of The Asahi Shimbun Gallery of Amaravati sculpture in Room 33a of the British Museum, and a supporter of the iconic Great Court. When Hokusai produced the images, Japan was still under sakoku, a policy of national isolation that began in the 1630s and lasted until 1853. The Hokusai drawings in Boston feature a different range of subjects from those in London, including landscapes, plants and fish – although there are overlaps. But when the stylistic mannerisms of the two groups are compared, it's clear they're closely related. The Boston drawings have neither title or date, but considering the similarities, it could be they're from the same overall project as the 103 London drawings.

The Dragon of Smoke Escaping From Mount Fuji, 1849 by Hokusai". KatsushikaHokusai.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012 . Retrieved 2 November 2020. Hokusai died in 1849 at age 90—a “Biblical age at a time when the life expectancy was much lower,” according to Feltens. The earliest contemporary record of Hokusai dates from the year 1778, when, at the age of 18, he became a pupil of the leading ukiyo-e master, Katsukawa Shunshō. The young Hokusai’s first published works appeared the following year—actor prints of the kabuki theatre, the genre that Shunshō and the Katsukawa school practically dominated. The achievements of this period include 'Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji' (1831–1833), two series conventionally called 'Large Flowers' and 'Small Flowers' (early 1830s), and many other innovative series. In Japan, Fuji is considered a sacred mountain associated with longevity. It may also have held personal significance for Hokusai, since he incorporated the mountain’s distinctive outline into one of his later seals and devoted a three-volume illustrated book to 100 views of Fuji. The art names 'Manji' ('Everything') and Gakyō Rōjin ('Old Man Crazy to Paint') both emerged around 1834.These works are a major new re-discovery, expanding considerably our knowledge of the artist’s activities at a key period in his life and work,” says Tim Clark, an honorary research fellow at the British Museum, in the statement. “All 103 pieces are treated with the customary fantasy, invention and brush skill found in Hokusai’s late works and it is wonderful that they can finally be enjoyed by the many lovers of his art worldwide.”