The Art of Hokusai
- Masterpieces of Japanese Painting in the Chester Beatty Library

By Dr Clare Pollard; price €8.99

 

Katsushika Hokusai, one of the most well-known and influential Japanese woodblock print designers, was the first Japanese artist to become popular in the West, where his striking designs, such as The Great Wave, revolutionised the attitude of late-19th century artists, including Manet, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, to the use of colour and form.

 

In The Art of Hokusai, Clare Pollard looks at the life of this innovatory artist and sets his achievements against the backdrop of the ‘golden age’ of Japanese woodblock printing in the late-18th and early-19th centuries.

In this clearly written and beautifully illustrated book, Clare Pollard outlines the history of woodblock printing and illustrates highlights from the library’s collection, including a selection of Hokusai’s famous views of Mount Fuji and rare examples of his exquisite, privately published prints. Sir Alfred Chester Beatty greatly admired Hokusai and the Japanese print collection, which was formed in the 1950s, includes over 80 of his finest printed books and single-sheet prints.