LITMIR.BIZ

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      In the postscript to Fugaku Hyakkei, Hokusai wrote what I believe epitomizes his life: “From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the forms of things. By the time I was fifty I had published an infinity of designs; but all I produced before the age of seventy is not worth taking into account. At seventy-three I learned a little about the real structure of nature, of animals, plants, trees, birds, fishes and insects. In consequence when I am eighty I shall have made more progress; at ninety I shall penetrate the mystery of things; at a hundred I shall certainly have reached a marvelous stage; and when I am a hundred and ten everything I do, be it a dot or a line, will be alive. I beg those who live as long as I to see if I do not keep my word.”

      Hokusai’s second great achievement was the hugely successful fifteen-volume Hokusai Manga published between 1814 and 1834 (Fig. 34a–j). Crammed with nearly 4,000 sketches, the books constitute a veritable encyclopedia of Japanese life. By covering every topic imaginable, from flora and fauna to everyday life and the supernatural, Hokusai transformed ukiyo-e from portraiture focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader genre. Although drawn in three art styles— Tosa, Kano and ukiyo-e —the ukiyo-e style dominates the entire set. The best prints depict the different occupations of the common people as well as samurai. Hokusai’s people are drawn with a humor and wit never seen before. They also reveal his remarkable knowledge and understanding of the human body. For this reason, I consider Hokusai, together with Rembrandt, the two greatest draftsmen who ever lived. Both men are noteworthy for the quick, decisive way they could put complicated forms and actions on paper without unnecessary detail. The Hokusai Manga continues to be reprinted regularly, with new blocks being cut. Meiji period copies done in the late nineteenth century are expensive, even as copies.

      Picture books during the Hokusai years flourished and most artists were happy to enter the world of publishing. It was good business and many artists, especially in Edo, were able to make a comfortable living. Subject matter ranged from pure comics to travel guides, the theater and, naturally, the gay quarter. These were the subjects the ukiyo-e masters thrived on, that offered unlimited aesthetic possibilities, providing them with a good livelihood and helping to establish their reputations. One such artist was Katsushika Taito II (active 1810–53), a pupil of Taito I, the name Katsushika Hokusai used between 1811 and 1820. Taito II was one of Katsushika Hokusai’s best pupils and collaborated with his mentor on early volumes of the Hokusai Manga and other illustrated books. Hokusai gave Taito II his name in 1820. Unsurprisingly, Taito II worked in much the style of his great master (Fig. 37a–c).

      At the same time, artists from other schools of art ventured into the illustrated book world. Among them were descendants of the hereditary secular painters of the Kano school of painting. Their interests lay less in illustrating novels than in keeping alive the traditions of Kano Tanyu (1602–74), the most successful member of the Kano school in the Edo period and the principal decorator of the massive castles and sumptuous homes of the samurai class. For these he created a number of large-scale works for screens and wall panels depicting natural subjects in bright colors and with extensive use of gold leaf. Tanyu’s later return to the restrained designs and subdued tones of the early Kano painters, and a renewed interest in ink monochrome, set the standards for the later Kano artists who ventured into book illustration but were keen to transmit the Kano school style. Many of their illustrations were copies of well-known paintings by past Kano masters in which detailed realistic depictions of animals and other subjects in the foreground were juxtaposed with “negative space” implying mist, clouds, sea or sky in the background or to indicate distance. They also produced instruction manuals on how to paint in the traditional manner.

      Other painting schools influenced the development of ukiyo-e. One was the Nanga (“Southern painting”) or Literati school in Kyoto, named after the Chinese Southern school of painting. Nanga artists considered themselves intellectuals or literati and shared an admiration for Chinese culture. Their paintings, usually rendered in black ink, sometimes with soft colors, almost always depicted traditional Chinese subjects such as landscapes and birds and flowers. One of the most important painters and book illustrators of the Nanga or Literati school of artists was Tani Buncho (1763–1840) (Fig. 35a, b). Although he studied the painting techniques of the Kano school in his youth and worked with masters of other schools to develop a wide stylistic range, he is best known for his Chinese-inspired landscapes in the literati style. He illustrated almost thirty books, mostly with landscapes.

      Another Kyoto painting school was the Maruyama, founded by the realist painter Maruyama Okyo (1733–95), who advocated tranquil Western naturalism mixed with the Eastern decorative style of the Kano school. An offshoot of the Maruyama, the Shijo school, named after the street in Kyoto where many major artists were based, was started by one of Okyo’s former students, Matsumura Goshun (1752– 1811). The Shijo style was a synthesis of the rival Nanga and Maruyama schools, focusing on Western-influenced objective realism but achieved with traditional Japanese painting techniques.

      FIG. 34a

      Samurai and mythological characters (Vol. 4).

      FIG. 34b

      Birds, some of which are in flight. (We must remember the careful observation necessary to draw from memory as there was no photography) (Vol. 4).

      FIG. 34c–e

      Architectural roof details (Vol. 5).

      FIG. 34f

      Samurai armor and weapons (Vol. 6).

      FIG. 34g

      Positions of fighting with a spear (Vol. 6).

      FIG. 34h

      An angry horse being controlled by a woman (Vol. 9).

      FIG. 34i

      A fat man washing and preparing food (Vol. 9).

      FIG. 34j

      A samurai contemplating a turbulent sea (Vol. 9).

      FIG. 34a–j

      Katsushika HOKUSAI 北斎 (1760–1849)

      Hokusai Manga 北斎漫 画より (1814–34)

      Book, 15 volumes, 22.5 x 16 cm

      Courtesy of Hara Shobo

      Hokusai’s fifteen-volume Manga, a compilation of over 4,000 drawings of everyday people, animals, religious figures, etc. is an amazing feat of conceptual ideas. Although the series does not have the aesthetic appeal of the Fugaku Hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji), it is astonishing for the breadth of its subject matter and is at once humorous, scientific and beautiful. The later volumes do not have the verve and liveliness of the early volumes but are still remarkable. The examples shown are taken from four of the original volumes.

      FIG. 35a, b

      Tani BUNCHO

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