Iconic, influential and prolific, Hokusai’s ukiyo-e woodblock prints are some of the most instantly-recognisable pieces of Japanese art around the world – in particular, his ‘Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji’ series and of course, ‘The Great Wave’. These works and almost 500 others are on show in an extraordinary collection at the Mori Museum, including some recently discovered and never-before-shown pieces.
Hokusai Updated casts a comprehensive view of the artist’s work, from age 20 until the time he put down his brush at the age of 90. The eccentric artist, born in 1760 and destined to be a mirror-polisher for the shogun, ended up producing around 30,000 works of art, and inadvertently influencing the Western Impressionist Movement and the Japonism movement that swept through Europe in the 19th century. The Hokusai Manga (‘Hokusai Sketches’), which triggered the Japonism movement, are also on display.