Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), a representative ukiyo-e artist from the late Edo period, is one of the most famous Japanese artists in the world. His works, such as the series Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji and Hokusai Manga, have a lasting impact on audiences and are highly popular both in Japan and abroad.
Hokusai is known for his influence on Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters such as Monet, Degas, and Van Gogh, as well as on Japonisme, which was especially prevalent in France. However, there are also many collectors and researchers of Hokusai in the UK, and their history can be traced back to the 19th century. The British Museum has one of the world's finest collections of Hokusai works in terms of both quantity and quality.
This exhibition displays approximately 110 works selected from the British Museum’s collection of over 800 pieces, together with masterpieces of painting from collections in Japan. By tracing the transition of Hokusai’s artistic career over a period of 70 years, it focuses particularly on the 30 years from his 60th birthday until his death at the age of 90, when many of his most famous works were produced.
The success of the series Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji, a work that has become a synonym for Hokusai, was produced between the ages of 71 and 74, and established him as a master of landscape prints. He called himself ‘Gakyōjin’ (Man Mad about Painting), and demonstrated his artistic talent through various art forms, such as colour woodblock prints, surimono, picture books, edehon (art manuals), and yomihon (reading books). In his last years, he devoted himself mostly to drawing paintings. We hope you will enjoy the excellent works such as the series Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji, the series Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces and the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets, explained by the Nurse, as well as his representative work Ducks in Flowing Water and his other original masterpiece paintings, in which you can directly feel the artist’s presence.
In addition, the exhibition will also focus on six collectors and scholars who made Hokusai’s works available to the British Museum and built the foundation of the collection, introducing the British love of Hokusai through their former collections, writings, and related materials.