Transcript Masters of Asian Art

Katsushika Hokusai
Art Smart
Where does Asian Art come from?
Katsushika Hokusai (1760 - 1849)
 The Japanese artist, Hokusai, was born over 200 years ago
 He began his artwork when he was very young and created
more than 30,000 paintings during his life
 Drawing was Hokusai’s passion. He traveled constantly -
always carrying his sketchbook and brushes
 During his lifetime he called himself by more than 30
names. The last name he gave himself was "An Old Man
Crazy for Art"
 Hokusai was well known for sketching and painting
ordinary daily scenes from his life and for making
woodblock prints, which he later painted with
watercolors or inks
 The woodblocks he created were called ukiyo-e (pictures
of everyday life in Japan)
 What he is best known for today is his Mt Fujiyama series,
“The Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji” (which actually consists
of 46 prints)
 The most famous of this series is “The Great Wave Off
Kanagawa”
“The Great Wave Off Kanagawa”
 Unlike many famous art works, The Great Wave
Off Kanagawa is not an oil painting, but a
woodblock print
 Mt. Fuji is considered to be a symbol of strength
and the power of nature and the sea
 The focal point is not the wave, nor the men in
the boats, but Mt. Fuji standing calmly and
solidly in the background
 The turbulent wave seems to tower above the
viewer, whereas the tiny stable pyramid of Mount
Fuji sits in the distance
 Foundering among the great waves are three
boats thought to be barges conveying fish from
the southern islands of Edo (modern Tokyo)
Observing the weather: “A Gust of Wind at Ejiri”
 In this picture, people huddle against the wind's powerful force and struggle to hold on to
their belongings.
 How many different ways does Hokusai show the effects of the weather?
 The wind is strong enough to pull the leaves off the trees and send objects flying. Do you
think they're in danger?
 One woman has her papers scattered by the blowing air. Do you think she'll ever get them
back? Where you do think they'll finally land?
Eagle in a Snowstorm- 1848
Hanging scroll of ink on paper
Hokusai painted this when he was 88
years old.