Katsushika Hokusai

Who is Katsushika Hokusai?

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter, and printmaker of the Edo period, among the most influential visual artists in world history. Born in Edo, he trained from a young age and worked across an extraordinarily long and prolific career under numerous art names. He is best known for the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, produced in the early 1830s, which includes the iconic image known as The Great Wave off Kanagawa. His mastery of composition, line, and dynamic movement expanded the range of ukiyo-e beyond portraits of actors and courtesans to landscapes and nature. He also produced the Hokusai Manga, sprawling sketchbooks of everyday life, animals, and figures. His prints later reached Europe and profoundly influenced Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Monet and Van Gogh, a phenomenon known as Japonisme.

Sources: Katsushika Hokusai, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1830–1832 · Katsushika Hokusai, Hokusai Manga, from 1814 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, collection notes on Hokusai