Katsushika Hokusai: Japanese Woodblock Artist

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was one of the great masters of the Japanese woodblock prints. Before his time the woodblock prints were mostly depicting actors and beautiful women. Hokusai was born in Japan to an artisan family with the name Tokitarō. His father, Nakajima Ise, never accepted him as an heir which suggests that he may have been born to a concubine. Hokusai was interested in drawing at a young age but he was sent to work at a library from around age 12 to 14. When he was 15 he was apprenticed to a woodcarver and his name was changed to Tetsuzo. Upon turning 18, he was accepted into the studio of Katsukawa Shunshō. Shunshō was a master of the woodblock print, and he taught Hokusai about his trade. He finished his apprenticeship

He was eventually kicked out of his master’s school and was not permitted to use the name any longer. Some ten years after breaking with his master he released an illustrated book, started doing prints. This was the start of his success as a woodblock artist. This is the period that he began to use the name Hokusai. He moved on from woodblocks to mostly illustrated books such as the manga which featured some of his best drawings. From 1820 to 1832 he created the landscapes and "bird and flower" prints which are considered by many as his greatest works. Hokusai had done landscapes before but in 1823 he started his series on the 36 views of Mt. Fuji. In this series, Hokusai created a series of prints that had an effect on the western impressionists and the standard for Japanese woodblock prints. His last great work was a series of black and white books entitled "One Hundred Views of Fuji". In 1839 Hokusai lost many of his works of art to a fire. Although he continued to produce more works, principally brush-painting, for the next ten years after the loss of his collection in the fire, the quality does not match his earlier works. He died in 1849, at the age of