Katsushika Hokusai Biography

Hokusai's The Great Wave is said to have inspired Impressionist Claude Debussy and poet Rainer Maria Rilke. After Katsushika Hokusai's death and once Japan's borders were opened in the 1850s, many of his works were acquired by artists such as Claude Monet. It was perhaps Hokusai's use of Western perspective with vanishing points that drove his work to become so embraced by these European artists. While most Japanese artists were still employing Asian perspective, where far-away objects are positioned high up in the picture plane and the ground appears tilted, Hokusai was creating an innovative delineation of space and line. He also revolutionised the woodblock medium through his choice of subject; while other Japanese artists were focusing on traditional ukiyo-e themes, later in his career Hokusai would focus on landscapes and daily Japanese life, depicting the relationship between man and environment.

Though Katsushika Hokusai is a moniker associated with acclaim and popularity, the artist changed his name over 30 times during his career. Alongside informal pseudonyms, each nickname also correlates with a different period or style. His tombstone bears his final name, Gakyō rōjin Manji, which translates to 'Old Man Mad about Painting'. The sobriquet seems fitting, given that he produced some 30,000 works throughout his lifetime. Hokusai also moved 93 times. Finding cleaning distasteful, he would stay in one residence for as long as possible, letting grime and dirt build up in his studio until it became intolerable, at which point he would change location.

Katsushika Hokusai's style and practice attracted many students; he taught approximately 50 pupils during his lifetime. The artist himself was a student of renowned ukiyo-e master painter, Katsukawa Shunshō (1726–92, Edo), who taught him how to paint kabuki actors. Hokusai married twice, both women dying prematurely. He fathered two sons and three daughters.

Jessica Douglas | Ocula | 2017