Maker/Artist
Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese printmaker, painter, 1760-1849
Noted for works of ukiyo-e ('pictures of the floating world') in painting and printmaking. He had a long career of over 70 years during which, he adopted over 30 names, typically associated with shifts in production and style. He studied Ming painting in China, the Kanō school, Sumiyoshi school, Rinpa painting, and his contemporaries of the Edo period in Japan; he also learned from Western-style painting. Types of works included nikuhitsuga (polychrome or ink paintings); surimono ('printed things'; small-edition woodblock prints), and nishikie (polychrome prints), woodblocks for eirihon (illustrated books), kyōka ehon (illustrated books of poems), and printed book illustrations. He was one of the main shunga (erotic picture) artists of the Edo period. Hokusai is thought to have created over 30,000 drawings and illustrations for 500 books. Since the late 19th century, his work has had a significant impact on Western artists, including Gauguin and van Gogh.
