Hokusai
Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, known for landscapes.
Katsushika Hokusai (c. He is best known for his woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style focused on courtesans and actors into a broader style that included landscapes, plants, and animals. His works significantly influenced Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.
- field
- Painting, printmaking, book illustration
- nationality
- Japanese
- known_for
- Woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, including The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Fine Wind, Clear Morning
Lore & Background
His childhood name was Tokitarō. It is believed his father was Nakajima Ise, a mirror-maker for the shōgun. Hokusai began painting around age six. At 12, he worked in a bookshop and lending library; at 14, he apprenticed to a woodcarver; at 18, he entered the studio of Katsukawa Shunshō, an ukiyo-e artist. This event he called inspirational. He changed the subjects of his works from courtesans and actors to landscapes and daily life. Hokusai was known by at least thirty names during his lifetime. He married twice, fathered two sons and three daughters; his youngest daughter Ei (Ōi) became an artist and his assistant. He published two collections of landscapes that year and began attracting students. Hokusai paid close attention to production, writing to blockcutters about maintaining his style.
Reader's Guide
Hokusai's significance lies in his expansion of ukiyo-e beyond portraiture of courtesans and actors to include landscapes, plants, and animals, a shift that broadened the scope of the medium. His series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, created in response to a domestic travel boom and his personal interest in Mount Fuji, secured his fame both in Japan and overseas. The prints The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Fine Wind, Clear Morning became iconic. His works influenced European artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the late 19th-century wave of Japonisme. He is considered one of the greatest masters in the history of art, noted for innovative compositions and exceptional drawing technique. His frequent name changes, tied to shifts in his artistic production and style, are used to periodize his life.
Did You Know?
- Hokusai was known by at least thirty names during his lifetime, more than any other major Japanese artist.
- His youngest daughter Ei, also known as Ōi, became an artist and his assistant.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hokusai's most famous artwork?
His signature print is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, a single image from the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series showing a massive wave looming over small fishing boats with Mount Fuji in the background. It has become one of the most instantly recognizable pictures in all of Japanese art.
How did Hokusai change ukiyo-e?
Before Hokusai, ukiyo-e prints largely focused on courtesans and Kabuki actors, but he pushed the medium into landscapes, plants, and animals. That expansion helped turn landscape into a first-class subject within Japanese printmaking.
Did Hokusai influence Western art?
Yes—his prints spread across Europe in the late 19th century during the Japonisme wave and left a clear mark on painters such as Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. Van Gogh, for example, directly copied several Hokusai compositions and absorbed the Japanese artist's bold, flat color contrasts.
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