Hokusai

HOKUSAI: INSPIRATION AND INFLUENCE FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

Oct 19 2023 – Jan 21 2024
Seattle Art Museum
SIMONYI SPECIAL EXHIBITION GALLERIES

Thanks to the popularity of the instantly recognizable Great Wave—cited everywhere from book covers to Lego sets, anime, and even an emoji—Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has become one of the most famous Japanese artists in the world. Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence explores the fascinating life and enduring legacy of this trailblazing master by pairing more than 100 of his woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated books alongside more than 200 works by his teachers, students, rivals, and admirers. This new approach to presenting Hokusai’s work demonstrates the artist’s impact through centuries and around the globe, on artists including Yoshitomo Nara, Chiho Aoshima, and Helen Frankenthaler.

Exhibition organized by

Presenting Sponsors

Microsoft Logo
The Virginia Wright Future Fund LOGO

Major Sponsors
The Boeing Company
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Hotel Sponsor
Four Seasons Hotel Seattle

Image Placeholder 940px — *The Former Emperor [Sutoku] from Sanuki Sends His Retainers to Rescue Tametomo (Sanuki no in kenzoku o shite Tametomo o sukuu zu),* about 1851–52 (Kaei 4–5), Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Photograph ©️ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The Story of
H O K U S A I

Born to a family of artisans in the Katsushika district of Edo (present-day Tokyo), Hokusai began his artistic career at the age of six. At 19, he entered the school of Katsukawa Shunshō, where he mastered ukiyo-e, a style of woodblock prints and paintings focused on images of courtesans and kabuki actors who were the celebrities in Japan’s cities at the time. After Shunshō’s death in 1792, Hokusai began exploring other styles of art, shifting his focus away from the traditional subjects of ukiyo-e in favor of landscapes and daily life in Japan. Throughout his lifetime, Hokusai is thought to have designed about 3,000 prints. The 100 artworks on view showcase the breadth of subjects the artist tackled, including landscapes as in the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (1830-31), demons and fairytales as in The Ghost of Kohada Koheiji (ca. 1831–32), warriors in combat as in Watanabe no Gengo Tsuna and Inokuma Nyūdō Raiun (ca. 1833–35), wildlife as in Bellflower and Dragonfly (ca. 1833–34), and more.

The Mansion of Plate by Katsushika Hokusai — *The Mansion of the Plates (Sara yashiki),* from the series *One Hundred Ghost Stories (Hyaku monogatari),* about 1831–32 (Tenpо̄ 2–3), Katsushika Hokusai. Photograph ©️ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

BEYOND THE WAVE

*The Great Wave made by Jumpei Mitsui with LEGO® bricks,* 2020, Jumpei Mitsui.

The simultaneous evocation of beauty and terror within Hokusai’s print Under the Wave off Kanagawa (1830–31)—more commonly referred to as The Great Wave—has made it one of the most celebrated images in the art world. A Lego recreation (2021) by certified master builder Jumpei Mitsui greets visitors near the exhibition entrance. A large, central gallery in the exhibition is dedicated to the iconic print, which is presented alongside works inspired by or directly citing it, including Slash with a Knife from the series In the Floating World (1999) by Yoshitomo Nara (Japanese, b. 1959) and In Advance (2018–2022) by Linda Sormin (Canadian, b. 1971). Outside this gallery, the exhibition is organized thematically, with sections focused on Hokusai’s teachers and students, surimono (privately commissioned prints), the origins of Japonisme, landscapes, nature studies, and depictions of heroes and monsters. Taken together, the exhibition showcases the enduring appeal of Hokusai’s delightful and inspiring art, both within The Great Wave and beyond.

PICTURES OF THE FLOATING WORLD

The term ukiyo-e literally translates to “pictures of the floating world.” Artists trained in this style—including Hokusai—considered the main subject matter of their artworks to be the “floating world” of urban and popular culture that was enjoyed by the newly affluent and literate middle class that flourish in large Japanese cities during the Edo period (1615–1868). Although initially staying within the norms of this style, Hokusai continuously expanded the focus and artistic features of his artwork’s subject matter, pushing ukiyo-e into new avenues. The most prominent of these changes is Hokusai’s use of Western-style perspectives in depicting landscapes. This can be seen in the iconic series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1830), where the artist prioritized receding lines converging toward a vanishing point on the horizon as opposed to the traditional East Asian perspective, in which receding lines are parallel and distant objects are shown higher in the picture plane.

man pulling in fishing line from a high green cliff, mountain in the distance — *Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Kо̄shū Kajikazawa),* from the series *Thirty six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei),* about 1830–31 (Tenpо̄ 1–2), Katsushika Hokusai

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L'Eau, 1898, Gisbert Combaz. — *White Fujiyama Ski Gelände*, from the series *In the Floating World*, 1999, Yoshitomo Nara.

Throughout his seven-decade career, Hokusai helped to define, reinvent, and elevate every artform he engaged with. After Japan reopened to the world in the 1850s, his images traveled far and wide, sparking the global movement known in Europe as Japonisme and inspiring artists for generations to come. In presenting Hokusai’s own works alongside more than 200 works by his teachers, students, and contemporaries, Hokusai’s global impact through the centuries is emphasized. Artists whose works are on view include Hokusai’s daughter Katsushika Ōi; his contemporaries Utagawa Hiroshige and Utagawa Kuniyoshi; 19th-century American and European painters, including Henri Rivière and Félix Bracquemond; and modern and contemporary artists, including Helen Frankenthaler, Yoshitomo Nara, and Chiho Aoshima.

Images: Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), about 1830–31 (Tenpō 1–2), Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese, 1760–1849, woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, Photograph ©️ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Former Emperor [Sutoku] from Sanuki Sends His Retainers to Rescue Tametomo (Sanuki no in kenzoku o shite Tametomo o sukuu zu), about 1851–52 (Kaei 4–5), Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Japanese, 1797–1861), woodblock print (nishiki e); ink and color on paper, William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Mansion of the Plates (Sara yashiki), from the series One Hundred Ghost Stories (Hyaku monogatari), about 1831–32 (Tenpо̄ 2–3), Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese, 1760–1849, woodblock print (nishiki e); ink and color on paper, William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Great Wave made by Jumpei Mitsui with LEGO® bricks, 2020, Jumpei Mitsui, Japanese, Courtesy of the artist. Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Kо̄shū Kajikazawa), from the series Thirty six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), about 1830–31 (Tenpо̄ 1–2), Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese, 1760–1849, woodblock print (nishiki e); ink and color on paper, Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. White Fujiyama Ski Gelände, from the series In the Floating World, 1999, Yoshitomo Nara, Japanese, born 1959, color xerox print of reworked woodcut, Courtesy of Yoshitomo Nara Foundation, Pace Gallery, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, © Yoshitomo Nara.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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The Story of H O K U S A I

PICTURES OF THE FLOATING WORLD

A L A S T I N G INFLUENCE

The Story of
H O K U S A I

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