Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai – Early drawing attempts; study of ukiyo-e with Katsukawa Shunshō

According to the Western calendar, Katsushika Hokusai was born around 31 October 1760 in the Japanese capital of Tokyo, at that time named Edo. With the birth name Tokitaro, he made his first drawing attempts at the age of five, as listed in his autobiography compiled by the artist himself at the age of 73. Hokusai grew up in a family gifted in craftwork and art - his father designed mirrors - but because he was not included in his father’s will, it is assumed that his mother was a concubine. Hokusai worked at the age of 12 in a bookshop and at the age of 15 started an apprenticeship as a wood carver. At 18, he joined the studio of Katsukawa Shunshō and with this, the circle of the ukiyo-e artists, a Japanese art movement which lasted from the 17th to the 19th century with a focus on woodcut prints. Hokusai remained tied to his teacher Shunshō for around 14 years and after his death, Hokusai was shut out of the school – perhaps because he was always open to other influences.

Katsushika Hokusai was a restless artist with many names 

Katsushika Hokusai received the artist’s name Katsukawa Shunrō from his teacher Shunshō, under which he published his first works. To the chagrin of collectors and art historians, this was not to be his last pseudonym, with at least 30 different names attested for him. He is said to have changed his place of residence even more frequently, a total of 93 times. This ultimately reflected the artist’s great restlessness, one who was never satisfied with what he achieved, even though he was considered a child prodigy by those around him at an early age. In old age, he confessed that everything he had created before his 70th year was not worthy of attention and that he would only reach a respectable level on his 100th birthday. Posterity saw it differently: although Katsushika Hokusai only lived to be 89, his art soon enjoyed a high reputation. His most famous series was The 36 Views of Fuji, which actually consisted of 46 prints. Nearly a decade of work had gone into its creation, and one particular sheet, The Great Wave, is considered the most famous work of Japanese woodcut art. 

Open to influences from the West; important work in old age

In the course of his artistic career, Katsushika Hokusai covered a wide selection of themes and did not shy away from erotic art, known as shunga in Japan, and which attracted interest from both men and women of all walks of life. Hokusai’s work The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife is world famous and depicts a Japanese female pearl diver having sexual intercourse with two octopi. Despite his numerous works, critics tend to agree with the artist’s self-assessment and to locate his most important works in his late phase. Katsushika Hokusai was one of the Japanese artists who were open to influences from the West and whose work displayed corresponding traces. He himself, in turn, served as a model for the European Impressionists and later, in part, for the Expressionists. 

Katsushika Hokusai died on 10 May 1849.