Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence

Book Synopsis: How artists from Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi to Whistler and Arthur Wesley Dow embraced and transformed Hokusai’s dynamic style and innovations.

The great painter, book illustrator, and print designer Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has become the best known of all Japanese artists and one of the most famous and influential artists in the world. He was a key figure for the Japonisme movement in late 19th-century Europe, and his iconic images—especially the color woodblock print nicknamed “The Great Wave”—are frequently referred to in present-day art in both serious and frivolous forms, from sculpture, printmaking, and painting to anime and emojis.

This book looks at Hokusai from the viewpoint of fellow artists who incorporated lessons learned from him into their own work, including Hokusai’s own students, his contemporary rivals, and his many posthumous admirers working in a wide range of mediums, in Japan and around the world, from the late 19th century to the present. Lavishly illustrated and accompanied by illuminating and engaging texts, this publication invites readers to encounter the origins and enduring appeal of Hokusai’s delightful art.

Artists include: Félix Bracquemond, John Cederquist, Arthur Wesley Dow, Hiroshige, Sori Hishikawa, Hokkei, Hokusai, Winslow Homer, Loïs Mailou Jones, Henri Gustave Jossot, Shun’ei Katsukawa, Shunsho Katsukawa, Oi Katsushika, Eisen Keisai, Korin, Kuniyoshi, Paul Legrand, Manjiro Hokuga, Ogata Korin, Odilon Redon, Henri Riviere, Hoitsu Sakai, Hokuju Shotei, Hokushu Shunkosai, Kogan Tobari, Hokkei Totoya, Toyoharu Utagawa, Utamasa, Édouard Vuillard, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Samuel Wilson, and Shigenobu Yanagawa.