Hokusai
£11.40£14.30 (-20%)
Meet the artist whose majestic breaking wave sent ripples across the world. Hokusai (1760–1849) is not only one of the giants of Japanese art and a legend of the Edo period, but also a founding father of Western modernism, whose prolific gamut of prints, illustrations, paintings, and beyond forms one of the most comprehensive oeuvres of ukiyo-e art and a benchmark of japonisme. His influence spread through Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and beyond, enrapturing the likes of Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Vincent van Gogh.
Hokusai was always a man on the move. He changed domicile more than 90 times during his lifetime and changed his own name through over 30 pseudonyms. In his art, he adopted the same restlessness, covering the complete spectrum of Japanese ukiyo-e,“pictures of the floating world”, from single-sheet prints of landscapes and actors to erotic books. In addition, he created album prints, illustrations for verse anthologies and historical novels, and surimono, which were privately issued prints for special occasions.
Hokusai’s print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, published between c. 1830 and 1834 is the artist’s most renowned work and, with its soaring peak through different seasons and from different vantage points, marked the towering summit of the Japanese landscape print. The series’ Under the Wave off Kanagawa, also known simply as The Great Wave, is one of the most recognized images of Japanese art in the world.
This TASCHEN introduction spans the length and breadth of Hokusai’s career with key pieces from his far-reaching portfolio. Through these meticulous, majestic works and series, we trace the variety of Hokusai’s subjects, from erotic books to historical novels, and the evolution of his vivid formalism and decisive delineation of space through color and line that would go on to liberate Western art from the constraints of its one-point perspective and unleash the modernist momentum.
About the series
Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features:
a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
a concise biography
approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions
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Additional information
| Publisher | TASCHEN, Illustrated edition (6 Jan. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 96 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 3836563371 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-3836563376 |
| Dimensions | 20.96 x 1.27 x 26.04 cm |
by Erika
Not a major issue but it came without a sleeve. Now it’s different to the rest of my Tachen books
by NumberSix
This is one of Taschen’s “basics” series of books about well known artists. Like others in the series it is a good introduction to the artist with a biographical essay accompanied by illustrations of the artist’s best known work. There are other books that are much more specific and/or in-depth but this is probably the best starting point.
The front cover features Hokusai’s best-known work, Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (usually known as the Great Wave), which is part of a series of views of Mount Fuji- some of the others in the series are also included in the book. Some of the illustrations are quite small, much smaller than their real-world counterparts, but are reproduced well enough that a good magnifying glass can bring out the details.
I have a few of the “basics” series and most of the older ones have dust jackets, but this one was supplied without one. I guess that is an economy measure by Taschen. It doesn’t seem to have affected the quality of the book itself.
by Amazon Customer
Hokusai shares top rank together with Hiroshige as the best of classical artists in Japan.
by Ms S
Superb book, lovely pictures and informative text! I love it, Thankyou
by Kindle Customer
This is a well written book with beautiful illustrations, if you are a fan of the artist then definitely a must.
by Hikari
Hokusai is a legendary artist and a main reference in Japanest art. This book features several of his most respected works although I feel that it’s too short and could have been a larger volume.
by RC
5 stars
by gjs
I bought this book along with the Van Gogh one and they look lovely on my coffee table