Katsushika Hokusai. Great wave in Kanagawa

Since ancient times, Japanese fine art has been considered one of the most distinctive and original in the whole world. This phenomenon can easily be explained by the fact that the country was on the outskirts of the world for a long time and was closed. One of the first artists to write his name in the history of art is Hokusai Katsushika. His paintings are one of the greatest cultural monuments that have left their mark on history.

The Early Years of Hokusai Katsushiko

One of the most famous ukiyo-e artists was born on October 21, 1760 in Edo. The greatest artist worked under many pseudonyms, but history remembers him precisely by his original name. Katsushika Hokusai lived in modern Tokyo and studied in poor neighborhoods. There he received his profession as an artist, which forever recorded the name of his region in history. His real name was Tokitaro Hokusai, which became known only at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Based on historical sources, we can say that his father was Nakajima Ise, a mirror maker who worked for the shogun himself. His mother was a concubine and was not married to his father. She was a model for artists and did housework. According to some sources, his real father was Muneshige Kawamuru, who sent his son to study with a master at the age of four. It is also known that Katsushika Hokusai was not the only child in the family. Supposedly he was not the eldest child and had about four siblings.

Leaving parents, studying at Ekomot

In 1770, at the age of ten, he was sent to work in a bookshop. There he became a book peddler in the Yekomote area. It was here that the young artist received his first nickname - Tetsudzo, which in the future would become his first pseudonym. While working in a bookstore, the boy began to learn to read and write, including the Chinese language. Among the subjects studied was the art of drawing engravings. Katsushika Hokusai's biography as an artist began at the age of six. It was this period that coincided with the rapid development of fine art in Japan. At this time, active promotion of theatrical, musical and visual arts began. Engraving and other types of artistic activity began to receive special attention.

First attempts at writing

The young artist’s bright and colorful childhood began with contemplation of the paintings of famous masters - Utagawa Toeharo, Harunobo Kutsiuchi, Katsukawa Shunsho. The works of these artists provided inspiration for the paintings of Katsushika Hokusai, giving rise to a new genre - ukiyo-e (pictures of the changing world).

With the beginning of his studies, the author of great paintings became acquainted with the classical form of Japanese fine art, called “woodblock printing”. With the advent of the artist, this genre reaches a completely new level, which provides the master with the first wave of popularity and new students. The author cannot fit himself into the framework of this genre and tries to find broader ways of expressing his own creativity.

At the beginning of 1778, he became an apprentice to the famous artist Katsukawa Shunsho. He comprehends the basics of modern art at that time and creates his first painting, mainly focusing on depicting actors of the classical Japanese kabuki theater. After his first success, he takes on a new pseudonym - Shunro, which is a play on words on behalf of his teacher and his own.

Fame as an independent artist

Four years later, by 1784, the author appeared with his first works, published without the intervention of his teacher. The paintings of Japanese artist Kasushika Hokusai are gaining immense popularity among all walks of life. Its originality and original style went down in history for a long time as an encyclopedia of the life of ancient peasants.

His work featured the early Japanese printmaking styles of yakusha-e and hoso-e. By this time, he was already remembered as a hardworking and talented student and received good recommendations from his teacher. He also worked on depicting married couples in the style of diptych and triptych. One of Kasuika-sensei's most famous models was the young actor Itakawa Danjuro. During this period of creativity, the influence of his first master was clearly visible. The works of the early period are poorly preserved and are of the greatest value to admirers of the artist’s talent.

In the period from 1795 to 1796, the first author's touches began to appear. Around this period, the first large works appeared, depicting famous buildings, Mount Fuji and famous public figures of Japan at the end of the 18th century.

End of first period

In addition to the original, the artist Katsushika Hokusai is engaged in the classic occupation of the masters of that time - book illustration. His work can be seen in the popular Edo-era "yellow magazines" that were marketed to the masses. The illustrations have become a real historical source, from which contemporaries can learn about the life and culture of the 19th century.

In 1792, his teacher and mentor, Syunsei, died, after which the school was headed by his successor. By this time, the young artist began to develop the makings of a new, original style. Katsushika Hokusai's graphics begin to take on features that were used in other schools. For his exceptional originality and denial of the classical canons, in 1796 the artist was forced to leave his new teacher due to disagreements in his professional activities.

Second period: creation of the "Surimon" style

Leaving art school was a turning point in the activities of Katsushika Hokusai. During this period of his life, he faced many difficulties related to lack of money. The artist was engaged in small trade, was a cab driver and continued to improve his skills. At the same time, he took classes at several schools, which allowed him to hone his skills to perfection. He was the first Japanese artist to use European perspective in his works.

The essence of "Surimon" lies in the specific woodcut image and play of colors. They mainly served as gift cards, but only rich feudal lords or wealthy peasants bought them. The paintings could depict anything, from everyday and family scenes to the demonstration of mythical stories.

In Katsushika Hokusai's work "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" new philosophical ideas appear that were not previously used in the works of his contemporaries. After this painting, the artist began to publish new stories based on this story. "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" by Katsushika Hokusai is a prequel to subsequent works in this genre. The painting influenced many artists of several generations. There are different interpretations of this work by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Knopff, Auguste Rodin and other famous artists.

Third period: poverty

At the very peak of popularity, after several dozen successful works, the author retires and actually stops drawing. Katsushika Hokusai stopped training new masters and wanted to retire. But due to a sudden fire in 1839, he loses all his belongings, including several paintings that were supposed to feed him. Impoverished and forgotten, the artist dies at the age of 88.

Creation of the world's first Japanese manga

Katsushika Hokusai is also known for creating the Japanese comic book genre. Being at the peak of his popularity, on the advice of his students, he began working on collections of sketches related to the plot. Another famous painting by Katsushika Hokusai, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” is another sketch from the collections of “Hokusai’s drawings.” All issues demonstrate interesting everyday situations, national holidays or stories from the life of the author himself. Katsushika Hokusai's collection "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" became the best-selling and already had a cult status at that time.

Impact on culture

The famous author of paintings gained fame far beyond the borders of his homeland. Even during the closed period of Japan, artists from all over the world began to talk about him, admiring the originality and originality of the author. Thanks to the paintings of Katsushika Hokusai, many branches of the ukiyo-e and postmodern genres appeared.

The artist signed his last works as follows: “Hokusai - who lived forever.” And there was no narcissism or claim to immortality in this, only the master’s high demands on his work. Hokusai himself said: “From the age of 6, I was possessed by a passion for drawing all objects. At the age of 50, I produced a significant number of works of all kinds, but none of them satisfied me. Real work began only at the age of 70. A real understanding of nature is awakening to me now , at the age of 75; therefore I hope that at the age of 80 I will have achieved a certain power of penetration, which will continue to develop until I am 90. And at the age of 100 I will be able to proudly declare that my understanding is perfect."

9. “Mountain Pass to Koshu”

What is the charm of the very special artistic world of Katsushika Hokusai and of all Japanese art in general? In the poetry of the line and rhythm of the drawing, the artistry of the brush, the purity of color? Japanese artists, of course, have all this, and at first it was these qualities that delighted European art connoisseurs. It was not immediately that Japanese prints and paintings excited everyone with their concentrated reflection on man’s place on earth, on the meaning of his life, while still leaving something unspoken.

4. "Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa"

And Katsushika Hokusai is also not just a landscape painter. His depiction of nature is rarely a landscape in the usual sense. His paintings are original scenes, inscribed and multi-faceted landscapes with wide distances. Dozens of people live and move on them, engaged in various jobs: coopers and sawmills, fishermen with nets, peasants and traders...

5. "Sundai District in Edo"

Long before the creation of the series of prints “36 Views of Fuji,” Katsushika Hokusai experienced his new creative birth, starting work on the “Manga” series. In it, he brought together everything that he had achieved in the past, while at the same time “Manga” became the basis for the creation of new works. In them, the artist paid a lot of attention to the study of man, whom he always depicted in an inextricable connection with nature. This idea was further developed in the series of engravings “36 Views of Fuji”. Hokusai captures various phenomena of life; only under the influence of such ideas could this series arise.

6. “Crooked Pine in Aoyama”

The Japanese are very fond of their mountain, which has become a favorite symbol of the Japanese people - sacred Fuji, “which all women and poets dream about.” According to legend, the mountain arose one night in 285 BC, at the same time when Lake Biwa appeared in the province of Omi.

Only heaven and earth

They opened up at the same moment,

Like a reflection of a deity

Majestic, great,

In the land of Suruga has risen

Great Mount Fuji!

7. “Senju Bridge in Musashi Province”

The heroine of ancient legends and tales, Fuji was revered first as the goddess of Fire, and later as the abode of the Shinto gods. She was worshiped by Taoists and Buddhists, and odes and hymns, tankas and haiku were written in her honor.

8. “The Tama River in Busya”

Fujiyama is most beautiful from the ocean side, from the Tokaido seaside road, connecting the young shogunal city of Edo (Tokyo) with the ancient imperial capital of Kyoto. To the left of the road, in the gaps between the gray crowns of cryptomeria, the greenish surface of the ocean opens. Gentle spurs of mountains slide into it, and mountain rivers flow towards it...

11. "Honganji Temple in Asakusa"

And on the horizon, to the right of the road, the majestic Fuji rises. Arising in a valley, towering above flat fields and low arable lands, Fuji seems especially grandiose. Its base melts into thick fog, and it seems that the mountain smoothly takes off and, like a giant bird, soars over the Land of the Rising Sun, protecting its peace and silence.

12. "Tsukudajima Island in Buyo"

The series “36 Views of Fuji” for K. Hokusai himself was a kind of milestone in the accumulation of certain experience and knowledge, and for the history of the Japanese landscape it became the pinnacle of his artistic mastery. The entire series consists of 46 sheets, but only two of them depict Fuji as the “main character.” On the remaining sheets, it is only present in the composition: the mountain is either visible from the roof of the house, or peeks out from behind the sea wave. Sometimes it is barely visible on the horizon, shrouded in fog, or is seen in the circumference of a large barrel, which a hardworking cooper is tending. Or peeks out between the sawyer’s arranged tripod... The mountain is shown by the artist from a wide variety of points of view, from different angles, from different distances. And in front of Fuji itself, a wide panorama of the life of peasants, townspeople, travelers, and artisans unfolds, like an endless pantomime. Small, lovingly depicted people work, surrounded by the majestic and mysterious elements of water, earth and sky...

10. “Fujimigahara Plain in Owari Province”

Katsushika Hokusai introduced the famous mountain into his prints as an indispensable participant in the events of the everyday life of the Japanese people, so in this series of prints he depicted Fuji, the landscape and the person. But human life is by no means an addition to Fuji, and at the same time, the mountain itself is not a background that shades human life. Throughout the series, K. Hokusai used a technique that was difficult for European viewers to grasp. The ancient image of Fuji in the form of a triangle framed below by a semicircle determines the compositional structure of many engravings and makes this symbol even more comprehensive. Thus, K. Hokusai includes earthly existence and everyday life into a single system of the universe. They are fused together - Fuji and the Japanese people.

13. "Shichirigahama Coast to Soshu"

In creating the multifaceted image of Fuji, the artist did not simply record with photographic precision the position of the mountain at sunset or sunrise. He creatively rethought and reworked a lot of fleeting impressions, which formed the basis of the series. Due to the fact that in Japan there was no gap between the street and the room and the entire life of the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun took place in the open air, Japanese artists were the first to learn almost calligraphically, in quick lines, to capture the unexpected and fleeting in nature. Everything about K. Hokusai is enchanting: cherry blossoms, Fuji with tongues of melting snow, and a house depicted with the precision of a drawing and with that loving passion for detail that is so inherent in the Japanese.

14. "Umezawa area in Soshu"

One of the best engravings in the series is the sheet “Red Fuji”, in which K. Hokusai most forcefully expressed the idea of ​​the eternal unity of man and nature, although there is no man in the landscape. The sheet depicts a mountain raising its cone high into the sky. In the rays of the hot sun, “Red Fuji” blazes in the engraving, the full title of which is “Victory Wind. Clear Day.” K. Hokusai had depicted the sacred mountain before, but in previous engravings it was presented as only a beautiful part of the natural landscape.

2. “Victory wind. Clear Day" or "Red Fuji"

Here, against the background of a sparkling blue expanse, slightly brightening towards the horizon, a mountain glows with a red glow, especially perfect in the crystal clarity and purity of its silhouette. K. Hokusai impressionistically accurately captured one of the many moments in the life of Fuji. The color of the mountain, the color of the sky, the color of the clouds - all this conveys only one short-term movement of nature, when the morning itself is just dawning. The feeling of fragile pre-dawn silence is conveyed by the color of the engraving as a whole, and the compositional solution of the clouds, and the shape of Fuji.

Form and color in this engraving are reduced to only two elements - earth and sky. Fuji is not comparable to anything and therefore at first it seems small and, as it were, proportionate to the viewer, accessible to his mind, logic and feelings. But gradually the direct and close point of view changes: the viewer looks down and into the distance and suddenly realizes the vastness of the sky stretching to the foot of the mountain... And the greenery on the slopes of Fuji is no longer a bush, but a tall coniferous forest. And then the mountain seems to grow before our eyes, becomes majestic and, like the world, huge.

15. "Kajikazawa Swamp in Koshu"

In other engravings of the series ("Fuji in the rain", "Mountain during a thunderstorm", etc.) K. Hokusai combines movement and static, movement and rest - the alternation of those states of which life consists.

3. "Sudden Rain Under the Mountain"

While traveling around Japan, K. Hokusai saw in the nature of the country something that, it would seem, had not even been noticed before. The ocean entered his art like a great element. Perhaps the correlation of all phenomena of life with the ocean determined the scale of vision and breadth of views on the world that distinguish the best engravings of K. Hokusai.

16. “Mishimagoe Pass in Koshu Province”

Here is the famous painting “The Wave” (its exact name is “In the Sea Waves off Kanagawa”), which has traveled all over the world. Hundreds of studies have been written about this engraving, and the German art critic F. Kaufmann dedicated an entire book to it alone.

1. "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"

In the engraving, K. Hokusai depicted the elements of water and sky playing out, and the viewer does not immediately notice light Japanese boats gliding through the water with people pressed to the seats. What can a person do in confrontation with this terrible element, in the face of the majestic beauty of Fuji? K. Hokusai expressed in this picture the intrinsic value of nature and the external world - stable, eternal and constantly changing.

17. “Lake Suwako in Shinshu”

In the series “36 Views of Fuji,” Katsushika Hokusai remained faithful to the old principle of the hierarchy of phenomena, the so-called law of “tenchijin” - “heaven, earth and man.” According to him, the picture should have the main subject, its worthy assistant and auxiliary details. And in K. Hokusai, as is usually the case in Japanese paintings, the entire structure of the work is subordinated to one detail and the main color scheme. Only the sequence of phenomena itself changes, in which a person sometimes ceases to be the last stage of “tenchijin”. It is often comparable, and sometimes becomes equal in size to Fuji itself.

18. “Ejiri Bay in Sunshu Province”

19. “In the Totomi Mountains”

20. “Ushibori Canal in Joshu Province”

21. "Suruga-cho in Edo"

22. “Night view of the Ryogokubashi Bridge from the bank of the Ommayaga River”

23. "Sazae-do, one of the 500 temples of Rakkanji"

24. "Snowy Morning on the Koishikawa River"

25. “Lower Meguro River”

26. “Watermill in Onden”

27. “Enoshima Island in Soshu Province”

28. “Image of Tagonoura Beach in Ejiri, Tokaido Road”

29. “Yoshida on the Tokaido Highway”

30. "The Sea Route to Kazusa"

31. "Nihonbashi Bridge in Edo"

32. “Sekiya Village on the Sumidagawa River”

33. "Noboto Bay"

34. “Lake in Hakone in Soshu Province”

35. “Reflection in Lake Misaka in Koshu Province”

36. “Hodogaya area, Tokaido tract”

37. "Tatekawa River in Honjo"

38. "View of Mount Fuji from the entertainment district in Senju"

39. “View of Fuji from Mount Gotenyama near the Shinagawa River”

40. “Nakahara in Soshu Province”

41. “Dawn in Isawa, Koshu Province”

42. “The other side of Fuji. View from the Minobugawa River"

43. “Onosinden in Sunshu Province”

44. “View of Fuji from the Katakura tea plantations in Tsuruga Province”

45. "View of Fuji from Kanaya, on the Tokaido Road"

46. ​​"Climbing the Mountain"

“One Hundred Great Paintings” by N. A. Ionin, Veche Publishing House, 2002

Katsushika Hokusai (1760, Edo (now Tokyo) - May 10, 1849, ibid.) - great Japanese ukiyo-e artist, illustrator, engraver of the Edo period. He worked under many pseudonyms. He is one of the most famous Japanese engravers in the West, a remarkable master of the final period of Japanese woodcuts.

Katsushika Hokusai is a great Japanese artist, an unsurpassed master of ukiyo-e. Born in Edo (Tokyo) in 1760. He worked in illustration, engraving, and woodcuts. He is best known for his series of works " 100 views of Mount Fuji", which are considered masterpieces of world significance.

Katsushika Hokusai changed more than 30 pseudonyms during his life. Connoisseurs of this artist's art use these pseudonyms to refer to different stages of the artist's work. Real name: Tokitaro. During his childhood and teenage years, when Katsushika became interested in the fine arts, he was influenced by such printmakers as Harunobu, Katsugawa Shunsho and Utagawa Toyoharu. His first teacher was the artist in the style of Katsukawa Shunsho. Despite the fact that he became very famous in this style, he always lacked freedom of expression. It was the desire to create something new that led Katsushika Hokusai, based on various schools of Japanese painting, as well as techniques of European perspective, to develop a new style - Surimono, which became very popular in Japan and beyond.

It is believed that Katsushika Hokusai had a huge influence on all world art, especially on European art of the 19th century. Hokusai's art had a great influence on the development of such genres as Art Nouveau and French Impressionism. The great Japanese artist died on May 10, 1849. His work has become an invaluable asset to the entire world of art. Katsushika Hokusai went down in history as a brilliant master of fine arts, whose works are still admired by people all over the planet and inspired by artists all over the world.

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Great wave in Kanagawa

View of Fuji from Mount Gotenyama near the Shinagawa River

Sudden rain under the mountain

Watermill in Onden

Inume Mountain Pass, Koshu

Yoshida in Tokaido

Kajikazawa to Koshu

Ushibori Canal in Hitachi Province

Umezawa area in Soshu

Katsushika Hokusai(Japanese); 1760, Edo - May 10, 1849, ibid.) - a widely known Japanese ukiyo-e artist, illustrator, and engraver of the Edo period. He worked under many pseudonyms. He is one of the most famous Japanese engravers in the West, a master of the final period of Japanese woodcuts.

Hokusai used at least thirty pseudonyms throughout his life. Despite the fact that the use of pseudonyms was common practice among Japanese artists of that time, he significantly surpasses other famous authors in the number of pseudonyms. Hokusai's pseudonyms are often used to periodize the stages of his work.

Biography

Childhood

Born in September 1760 in Edo (modern Tokyo) in the family of a craftsman. The family lived in an area called Katsushika, a poor urban suburb. His real name is Tokitaro, but throughout his creative life he took many different pseudonyms. It is believed that his father was Nikajima Ise, who made mirrors for the shogun. Hokusai did not succeed his father, so his mother was presumably a concubine. According to an authoritative researcher of Hokusai's work, Narazaki Muneshige Nikajima, Ise was only the adoptive father of the boy to whom he was sent to study. Muneshige considers his real father to be the peasant Kawamura, who gave him to Ise at the age of four or five. This allows us to conclude that Hokusai’s family was one of the poorest and the parents did not have the opportunity to raise all their children on their own. It can also be assumed that he was not the eldest son in the family, since only younger sons were sent to be raised in other people's families.

He began drawing at the age of six, possibly learning the art from his father, whose work on mirrors included painting them.

From the age of six I began to depict various shapes of objects

From the preface to the book “100 Views of Fuji”

In 1770, the boy got a job in a bookstore as a book peddler in the Yokomocho region. During this period his name is Tetsuzo. The reasons why he left his adoptive father's workshop remain unknown. Presumably, it was while working in a bookstore that Hokusai learned to read and write, including the Chinese language. The next trace in the artist’s life was work in the engraver’s workshop (from about 1773), which, in all likelihood, was not an accident. This period marks the heyday of engraving in Japan, which is beginning to enjoy great popularity. In general, this time in Japan is characterized by significant development of the cultural sphere: theater, fine arts, literature are mastering new methods, new styles are being developed. There is a surge in book printing. In the ongoing development, the synthetism characteristic of Japanese culture is clearly manifested, when individual types of art and crafts are closely interconnected and mutually influence each other: theater in Japan is firmly connected not only with literature, but also with music; a separate important genre in engraving is the creation of portraits of actors, engraving directly related to book printing, the creation of designs on fabrics, and is widely used in everyday life when creating greeting cards, etc.

The beginning of the way

Hokusai's childhood and youth included the work of many Japanese engraving masters: Harunobu, Katsugawa Shunsho, Utagawa Toyoharu. Woodcut printing is reaching a new level of development both artistically and technically. In the engraver's workshop, Hokusai learned the basics of wood carving. But the work of a carver-engraver has always been limited by the artist’s intentions. As a technical performer, the carver could not deviate from the artist’s plan; all that was required of him was precision and careful attitude to the work. Hokusai's limits as a carver are limited and he seeks to create engravings based on his own drawings.

In 1778, Hokusai apprenticed in the studio of Katsukawa Shunshō (1726-1792), a famous ukiyo-e artist famous for his portraits of kabuki actors. His workshop was one of the largest in Edo. The period of Hokusai's work from this time on is usually called the "Shunro Period", after the name with which he signs himself. In 1779, the young artist made a series of quite confidently composed theatrical portraits.

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Hokusai Katsushika

"Hokusai Katsushika"

“Creativity is a direct living embodiment, it is the individual world of the artist... it is independence from authority and any benefit,” as the great Japanese artist himself wrote.

Hokusai's creative heritage is extremely large: he created about thirty thousand drawings and engravings, illustrated about five hundred books, and wrote poetry. Hokusai's work had a significant impact on European painting and graphics in the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Hokusai Katsushika (real name Nakajima Tamekazu) was born on October 12, 1760 on the outskirts of the city of Edo, as Tokyo was formerly called, in the Katsushika district. He came from a peasant family. That is why the artist often called himself “a peasant from Katsushika.”

The boy began working for a merchant early. It was then that he became interested in the engravings displayed in the store. At the age of 13, he began working for a woodcarver and completed his first illustrations for books. In 1778, Hokusai entered the workshop of Katsukawa Shunsho, one of the artists of the democratic school of ukiyo-e. The picture of the world is comprehended by the artists of this school, first of all, through the consciousness of the significance, the special value of people’s everyday life, their work and concerns. In Shunsho, the young artist worked until 1792 mainly as an illustrator.

From about 1797 to 1810, Hokusai worked as a master of surimono (a special type of engraving that requires complex techniques), producing numerous greeting and invitation cards.

In the first half of his life, the artist often changed his name.

"Hokusai Katsushika"

The name "Hokusai" first appeared in 1800, starting in 1805 he signed himself "Hokusai Gakyo-jin", which means "old man obsessed with painting". At the same time, he created his first independent works: “53 Tokaido Stations” (1804), views of the road connecting Tokyo and Kyoto, and in 1814 he published the first book of the multi-volume work “Manga”, which he conceived as a manual for artists.

“The real Hokusai was born with the publication of the first volume of his famous album “Manga,” the name of which can be translated as “Book of Sketches,” writes B. Voronova. “This album consists of fifteen volumes; the first was published in 1814, the last in 1878. In "Manga" Hokusai seems to be studying the endless forms of existence, he analyzes everything visible, sometimes as if dissecting it. With equal enthusiasm, he sketches everyday scenes, landscapes of Japan, architectural details, animals, birds and insects. But above all, Hokusai interested in the world manifested in action. On the pages of this album, the heroes of the mature Hokusai are born: each person and each phenomenon of the world is independent and significant due to the potential for action inherent in them. The figures of people in "Manga" are depicted in sharp, often exaggerated movement, their poses and the silhouettes are expressive. The human condition in these drawings is always unambiguous, but it is fully revealed. Hokusai studies the movements of wrestlers, the poses of horsemen, the gestures of archers, and the jumps of acrobats."

Hokusai's creativity flourished in the 1820s - early 1830s, when he created the best landscape series: "36 views of Mount Fuji" (1823-1829), "Bridges" (1823-1829), "Travels along the country's waterfalls" (1827-1830), series "Poets of China and Japan" (1830).

In his works, Hokusai captures a variety of landscape motifs, using bold perspective effects and color combinations to create an epic image of the Japanese landscape, emphasizing the contrast between the hustle and bustle of people's activities and the calm tranquility of natural existence.

The artist’s most famous work is “36 Views of Mount Fuji.”

"Hokusai Katsushika"

Here, in fact, in 46 engravings, the artist depicts a picture of the life of the country. His heroes are mostly working people: fishermen on a stormy sea, sawyers in a woodshed, peasants carrying straw home. There are also everyday scenes - boys flying kites, and ladies talking on the terrace.

“But the ever-present Fuji motif, whose unchanging, individualized appearance acts as a symbol of the eternity and beauty of the world, introduces a shade of reflection on the frailty of human life. The Fuji motif, which at first appears gradually, almost as if by accident, gradually grows into an independent theme,” writes V.E. Brodsky.

“Hokusai is increasingly looking for motifs that allow him to embody the idea of ​​the grandeur of the world, the significance of everything that exists, the greatness of all manifestations of existence. Thus, his art, along with Fuji, includes an equally majestic, gigantic and heroic theme - the theme of the ocean. In all nine sheets of the unfinished series “100 Views of the Ocean” behind the usual genre plots - the image of fishermen, pearl collectors, algae catchers - we feel a lurking formidable and ruthless element, living on a different scale, which only needs to move - and everything that has settled on its shores will disappear" , writes B. Voronova.

The master's later works are distinguished by high graphic skill, but are inferior in richness and subtlety of color to the earlier series.

Among Hokusai's numerous works of the last two decades of his life, the most significant was the series of landscapes "100 Views of Fuji".

A typical example from this series is the painting “Wave,” where the artist uses graceful curls to paint foam on the crest of a rising wave and a flock of birds flying over the sea.

"Hokusai Katsushika"

Both the birds and the curls of the foam pattern form a single whole: splashes of foam, easily separated from the water, themselves turn into birds.

P.A. talks about how the great artist worked in his book. Beletsky:

"Squatting down, he held the tip of the handle of a brush with very long hair with two fingers. He supported his hand with the brush with his other hand, resting his elbow on his knee. While several strokes appeared on the paper lying on the floor, his whole body wriggled and moved. The muscles vibrated and swelled up, as if he was performing the most difficult gymnastic exercise... The students removed the completed sheets and quickly added the next ones.

The master did not allow any alterations. A few minutes - and before the eyes of the astonished captain, plants, animals, birds, and people appeared in the most varied turns from the spots of the spreading carcass. The speed was amazing."

Having passed the age of seventy, Hokusai wrote: “At the age of 6, I tried to accurately convey the shapes of objects. For half a century I painted a lot of paintings, but until the age of 70 I did not do anything significant. At the age of 73, I studied the structure of animals, birds, insects and plants. Therefore, I can say that up to the age of 80 my art will continuously develop and by the age of 90 I will be able to penetrate into the very essence of art. At the age of 100 I will create paintings like a divine miracle. When I turn 110 years old, every line, every point - there will be life itself.

Those who live long will see that I keep my word."

18+, 2015, website, “Seventh Ocean Team”. Team coordinator:

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