Facts about Katsushika Hokusai
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Hokusai's print production techniques involved collaboration with carvers and printers who transformed his designs into woodblock prints, with the carver responsible for cutting separate blocks for each color layer.
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Hokusai's eyesight deteriorated severely in his final years, yet he produced intricate detailed works including paintings with brushstrokes so fine they required magnification to appreciate fully.
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Hokusai's Manga, a 15-volume sketchbook series published between 1814 and 1878, contained over 4,000 drawings demonstrating his technical mastery across diverse subjects from daily life to mythological scenes.
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During his 88th year, Hokusai relocated to his daughter's home in Obuse where he created large-scale paintings on wooden panels for the local Gantoku Temple, marking a final burst of monumental artistic achievement.
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Hokusai's daughter O-Eita was also a talented artist who specialized in figure painting and collaborated with her father on several works during the 1820s and 1830s.
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At age 18, Hokusai was apprenticed to Katsukawa Shunsho, a master ukiyo-e artist whose studio he remained with for approximately a decade before establishing his independent practice.
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Hokusai's series One Hundred Famous Views of Mount Fuji, created in his seventies and eighties, contained 146 prints despite its title of 100 views.
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Hokusai created nearly 500 paintings during his final decade despite living in poverty and moving between different residences in Edo.
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Hokusai's father was a mirror maker in Edo, a profession that influenced his early artistic training and understanding of reflection and perspective.
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Hokusai changed his name at least 30 times throughout his life, adopting new artistic identities as he progressed through different creative phases.
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Over 30,000 prints were produced from Hokusai's woodblocks during his lifetime, making him one of the most prolific artists of the Edo period.
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In 1849, at age 88, Hokusai claimed he would finally begin to understand the true nature of things once he reached 110 years old.
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The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created by Hokusai around 1831, is part of his 36 Views of Mount Fuji series and remains one of the most iconic images in Japanese art history.