Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Plates bright and vivid. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> In 1797 after long study with various masters and schools the artist adopted the nom de plume that was to become his trademark – Hokusai meaning ‘Northern Studio’. During this period he produced striking portraits of women stylish love scenes surimono greeting-prints and his finest coloured book illustrations. He next turned to the picture-book: in his Manga sketchbooks on which he worked mainly from 1814 to 1819 he depicted all facets of Japanese life. His greatest achievement however apart from the rare figure prints and drawings of his middle years came in the Fuji landscapes of around 1830. In the Thirty-Six Views of Fuji the sacred mountain was seen from every conceivable angle and distance in all seasons and moods a revelation entirely new to ukiyo-e. In the 1830s he again surpassed himself with his three-volume picture-book One Hundred Views of Fuji the work that was to have the greatest influence on European art. This book is the first ever detailed monograph on Hokusai. It includes a unique feature of major value to scholars and collectors: a full appendix cataloguing all the prints and books with many illustrations of the more important series. The appendix also lists Hokusai’s signatures and noms d’artiste as well as his pupils and followers and contains a comprehensive bibliography. (OS)