Hokusai: A Life in Drawing

The blue, foam-crested wave rearing above Mount Fuji; the celebrated volcano idealized and reinvented by the artist in every nuance of view, season and painting; extraordinary bridges, the waterfalls of Japan, the contortions, costumes and gestures of men, women, peasants, townsmen, warriors and artisans.

Leaping horses, birds, insects and fish almost live on the ground on which they are painted — the countless imaginative drawings and lively sketches done on the spot for the Manga, Hokusai’s record of shapes and forms drawn from life.

Henri-Alexis Baatsch