Katsushika Hokusai was born in 1760 in Edo, today's Sumida district of Tokyo. He is considered the most famous artist in Japan. His probably most famous work is the woodblock print "The Big Wave in front of Kanagawa" (1830) from the cycle "36 Views of Mount Fuji" (1829-1833). His works are assigned to the genre ukiyo-e. It means "pictures of the flowing world", a soulful, interconnected world in its eternal cycle of becoming and passing away. Hokusai drew, painted and printed nature and landscape pictures, portraits, everyday scenes and erotic depictions. The term "manga" also goes back to him. This is how he described his sketchbooks with everyday scenes from the Edo period.
Katsushika Hokusai gave himself over 30 different stage names during his life. Between 1834 and 1849 he signed his works with "Gakyo-rojin", Japanese for "Old man crazy about painting".
"At the age of 100, I will have reached an excellent rank, and at 110, every point, every line will have its own life. I only hope that some people live to see the truth of what I'm saying."
Even though he was not granted the 110 years of his life, the productive and grandiose artist left behind more than 30,000 works. The magic of his visually powerful and subtle works is still unbroken today. © Meisterdrucke
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Katsushika Hokusai was born in 1760 in Edo, today's Sumida district of Tokyo. He is considered the most famous artist in Japan. His probably most famous work is the woodblock print "The Big Wave in front of Kanagawa" (1830) from the cycle "36 Views of Mount Fuji" (1829-1833). His works are assigned to the genre ukiyo-e. It means "pictures of the flowing world", a soulful, interconnected world in its eternal cycle of becoming and passing away. Hokusai drew, painted and printed nature and landscape pictures, portraits, everyday scenes and erotic depictions. The term "manga" also goes back to him. This is how he described his sketchbooks with everyday scenes from the Edo period.
Katsushika Hokusai gave himself over 30 different stage names during his life. Between 1834 and 1849 he signed his works with "Gakyo-rojin", Japanese for "Old man crazy about painting".
"At the age of 100, I will have reached an excellent rank, and at 110, every point, every line will have its own life. I only hope that some people live to see the truth of what I'm saying."
Even though he was not granted the 110 years of his life, the productive and grandiose artist left behind more than 30,000 works. The magic of his visually powerful and subtle works is still unbroken today. © Meisterdrucke
Page 1 / 8