Culture Thursday: The art of Hokusai
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| The Great Wave Off Kanagawa |
I'm sure you've all seen the painting above. If you know just one piece of East Asian or Japanese art, this would be it.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was the greatest practitioner of the Ukiyo-e genre of Japanese art, which translates as "pictures of the floating world". "Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica." Art works from this genre are the prototypical "Japanese" paintings, the ones which exploded onto the broader world after Commodore Matthew Perry "opened" Japan with his visits in 1853 and 1854, ushering in a fascination with all things Japanese, known as Japonisme, a country closed to outsiders since the early 17th century.
Hokusai turned ukiyo-e from centering portraiture of courtesans and actors, and expanded into landscapes/seascapes, plants, and animals. His works were thought to have had an influence on French Impressionist painters like Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.
Although a master artist of supreme sensitivity, he always strove to be better. On his deathbed he lamented, wanting ten more years so that he could become a truly good artist. "If only Heaven will give me just another ten years ... Just another five more years, then I could become a real painter." His death haiku read: Though as a ghost, I shall lightly tread, the summer fields.
Hokusai is emblematic of this truism: There is much more to life than getting and spending. There is a nobility in mastery of one thing, although mastery is the wrong word, as he was never satisfied. He exemplifies the yearning of the true artist, always seeking, always exploring, always longing for something he can never quite reach. But, the journey is the point, not the destination.
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