Katsuchika Hokusai
Between 1750 and 1850, Europe saw the end of the great wars
of empire; political and social revolutions in France and the American colonies
of Britain and Spain; and a tumultuous industrial revolution that began in
Britain and spread east and west. During the same period Japan enjoyed the
relative peace, stability, and prosperity of the Tokugawa Shogunate. While
European artists explored the possibilities of the rococo, Neoclassicism,
Romanticism, and Realism, Japanese artists developed their own version of
fanciful realism known as
ukiyo-e, i.e. pictures of the floating world.
In the effort to capture fleeting moments in everyday life, artists of this
movement represented Japan's wealthy classes to themselves, delighting them
with images of their own pursuits and the world in which they lived. One
of the most prominent of these artists was Katsushika Hokusai, about whom
you read in Chapter 20. During his lifetime Hokusai built a considerable
reputation in his own country. But when the Meiji Restoration of 1868 opened
Japan to the rest of the world, his art won an international reputation.
Use the links below to learn more about Hokusai's life, art, and legacy.
- You already know something of Hokusai's
life. To learn more go to Katsushika
Hokusai. Now read about Hokusai's master—a great artist in his own right—Katsukawa Shunsho.
- Take some time to consider the larger
context of Hokusai's art. Go to Art of the Edo Period
to learn more about the arts of eighteenth and nineteenth century Japan.
Then read a brief History of Ukiyo-e, the movement
to which Hokusai belonged. Finally, explore the virtual exhibition, The Floating World of Ukiyo-E.
(Begin with "Exhibition Overview" and then use the links provided
to move to subsequent pages; make sure to click on the images to enlarge them
so that you can examine them more closely.)
- Now take a look some images from
Hokusai's most famous work, 36 Views of Mount
Fuji (you can click on the images to enlarge them).
- As you read in Chapter 21, Hokusai
influenced many western artists, from the children's illustrator Beatrix Potter
to the great French Impressionist painters. Go to Beatrix
Potter and examine the examples of her work. When you finish, take a
look at the following paintings: Nocturne:
Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge (1872-5) by James McNiell Whistler;
Woman
in Front of Mirror (1891), by Mary Cassatt; and Divan
Japonais (1893) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Where can you detect Hokusai's
influence in the styles of these artists?
