The Ghost of Kohada Koheiji
1831 · Woodblock print, ink and color on paper · 26 × 37 cm
Ejiri in Suruga Province
1831 · Woodblock print, ink and color on paper · 25 × 37 cm
Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit
1831 · Woodblock print, ink and color on paper · 25 × 37 cm
Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji)
1831 · Woodblock print, ink and color on paper · 25 × 38 cm
The Great Wave off Kanagawa
1831 · Woodblock print, ink and color on paper · 25 × 37 cm
Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period. He is best known for his woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes The Great Wave off Kanagawa — one of the most recognizable images in world art. He produced over 30,000 works in a career spanning nearly 70 years and profoundly influenced Western Impressionism.
His most iconic works include The Great Wave off Kanagawa (c. 1831), Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji) (c. 1831), and the rest of the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series. His other celebrated works include the Hokusai Manga (15 volumes of sketches), One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, and the ghost print series One Hundred Ghost Stories.
Ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") is a genre of Japanese woodblock printing that flourished from the 17th to 19th centuries. Hokusai revolutionized ukiyo-e by moving beyond traditional subjects (courtesans and actors) to depict landscapes, nature, and everyday life. His innovative compositions and use of imported Prussian blue pigment created a new visual vocabulary.
After Japan opened to trade in the 1850s, Hokusai's prints reached Europe and had an enormous impact, sparking a craze called "Japonisme." His compositions, use of color, and cropped perspectives directly influenced Impressionists and Post-Impressionists including Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and Whistler. Van Gogh even copied several Japanese prints and wrote extensively about their beauty.
Hokusai changed his art name at least 30 times throughout his career, an unusually high number even for Japanese artists of his era. Some of his names include Shunrō, Sōri, Hokusai, Taito, and Manji. Each name change often marked a new artistic phase. On his deathbed at 88, he reportedly said: "If only Heaven will give me just another ten years... just another five more years, then I could become a real painter."
This page features public domain works by Katsushika Hokusai and is not managed by the artist.
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