| The most influential Japanese master of landscapes and figure studies, Hokusai created many masterpieces throughout his long and productive life. Studying under Shunsho, Hokusais earliest art was devoted to competent actor prints and figure studies in the style of his master. Then, in the first decade of the nineteenth century, Hokusais tireless studies led him to examine both Western art and Chinese paintings and prints. He thus broke from the standard Ukiyo-e style to forge a path for his own unique genius. This would lead him to some of the greatest artistic examinations of the relationship between man and nature in the history of art, such as, Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji (1831) and One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji (1834-1835).
Throughout his career Hokusai devoted much of talents to the art of the book. He became in fact close friends with some of Japans most widely read novelists, poets and translators, such as Takizawa Bakin, Emba and Takai Ranzan. Hokusais illustrative art is vital to an understanding of his superb genius. |
