Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

ResourcesBooks

Revealing the eccentricities behind one of the world's most famous images

For most people in the West, at least, if they had to describe one iconic piece from Japanese art history, it's more-than-likely that they'd name that arresting burst of brine, The Great Wave – or to give it its full title, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Written By:
Cartoon illustration of artist Hokusai drawing or painting a reclining figure, shown in profile as he works with a brush on paper

Since Katsushika Hokusai created that famous woodblock print around 190 years ago, it's not only been hailed for its beauty, but has frequently found itself as a sort of poster-girl for signifying tsunamis, hurricanes, and even plane crashes into the sea. But of course, there's so much more to Hokusai, as a new graphic biography of the artist illustrates.

Created as a graphic novel style take on the traditional artist biography, the book by cartoonist and illustrator Giuseppe Latanza and Francesco Matteuzzi, a journalist, screenwriter, editor and children's book author.

Illustration of Hokusai from a graphic biography, showing the elderly artist with black hair tied up, wearing a beige robe with red tassels, holding a brush and smiling with a mischievous expression

Often seen as something of an enigma, Hokusai was born circa 31 October 1760 in Edo, or in today's parlance, Tokyo. Working across woodblock prints, painting and book illustration, he created the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji woodblock print series, which includes The Great Wave, thanks in part as an artistic response to the new trend for domestic travel, and in part due to his personal love of Mount Fuji.

Throughout his 88 year life, Hokusai is said to have created an astonishing 30,000 paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, and images for picture books.

Illustration of a busy Edo-period Japanese street scene with wooden buildings, people in traditional dress, and Mount Fuji visible in the distance
Illustration from a graphic biography showing Hokusai and colleagues working at desks in a traditional Japanese workshop lined with storage boxes and shelves

The new book, published by Laurence King and simply titled Hokusai: A Graphic Biography, covers both: prolificness and the artist's more unusual eccentricities. As well as digging deeper into the artist's life and work, the publication also places these within the context of Edo-era Japan—the time also known as the Tokugawa period, spanning 1603 and 1867 when Japan underwent significant economic growth and more widespread, popular enjoyment of arts and culture.

By touching on these contextual elements and the specifics of certain works, the book gently delineates why and how Hokusai's images still resonate as iconic representations of Japan today and examine the artist's cultural legacy.

Illustrated portrait of Hokusai overlaid on a Japanese street scene with crowds of people and traditional buildings with orange-tiled roofs
A red and white tram travels down a street in a stylised illustration of a historic Japanese town with traditional architecture and pedestrians
Comic panels depicting scenes from Hokusai's life, showing him in conversation with various people in Japanese settings, from a graphic biography by Giuseppe Latanza and Francesco Matteuzzi
Graphic novel panels depicting Hokusai in a brown robe walking through Edo, with scenes of his studio workspace showing art materials and sketches, alongside illustrations of figures in traditional Japanese dress discussing his work.
Graphic novel panels depicting scenes from Hokusai's life, including figures in traditional Japanese dress in domestic and outdoor settings, with explanatory text accompanying the illustrations
Share

Further Reading