Hokusai Updated
A large-scale exhibition tracing the painterly life of Katsushika Hokusai is being held.
Along with masterpieces and rare items assembled from Japan and abroad, the show gathers roughly 480 works, including pieces newly discovered or rediscovered in recent years and precious items being shown in Japan for the first time.
Hokusai’s best-known works — the “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” series, which includes “Under the Wave off Kanagawa,” known worldwide as “The Great Wave,” and the “Hokusai Manga,” which triggered the Japonisme boom in 19th-century Europe — are only a small slice of his roughly seventy-year career.
This exhibition divides Hokusai’s painterly life into “six periods” based on stylistic shifts and the signatures he mainly used.
- Shunro period (around age 20–35), when he worked as a painter of the Katsukawa school
- Sori period (around age 36–46), when he left the Katsukawa school and eagerly took on new fields such as hand-painted works and illustrations for kyoka picture books
- Katsushika Hokusai period (around age 46–50), when he devoted himself to book illustrations for yomihon
- Taito period (around age 51–60), when he produced diverse picture manuals
- Iitsu period (around age 61–74), when he made many sets of nishiki-e prints
- Gakyo Rojin Manji period (around age 75–90), when he devoted himself to hand-painted works of free imagination and expression
Through masterpieces from Japan and abroad, recently discovered works, and pieces on public view for the first time, the show surveys Hokusai’s grand career and approaches the true Hokusai.
There are four main highlights, as follows.
[Highlight 1] The long-awaited large-scale Hokusai exhibition
From his debut work at age 20 to his final brushstroke at age 90, some 480 pieces are on view (with rotations during the run).
It will be the first large-scale, comprehensive Hokusai show in Tokyo in more than a decade.
On view January 17 (Thu) – January 28 (Mon)
With masterpieces and rare works gathered from Japan and abroad, it is a long-awaited chance to see Hokusai in the round.
[Highlight 2] First-ever public showings, one after another!
The exhibition also stands out for the number of works being shown publicly for the first time.
“Sunflower,” a hand-painted work in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum in the United States, was painted when Hokusai was 88; the crisp, upright form brims with an undiminished energy.
Cincinnati Art Museum, The Thoms Collection-Given by Mrs. Murat H. Davidson in Honor of her Grandfather, Joseph C. Thoms, 1982.15 On view for the full run
The same museum’s “Kanadehon Chushingura” (koban, 10 sheets) is a rare set that was rediscovered in recent years.
Also unmissable are the surimono (specially printed, non-commercial prints) and daisho-goyomi (New Year’s calendars) formerly held by the family of the lord of the Tsuwano domain.
118 items will be shown in full across four rotations; all have been treasured privately for so long that their colors remain striking to the point of astonishment.
[Highlight 3] The Nagata Collection: last Tokyo showing
Seiji Nagata, the exhibition’s supervisor, gathered works for the sake of his Hokusai research; the collection numbers more than 2,000 items.
Last year, they were donated en bloc to his home prefecture of Shimane.
Shimane Art Museum (Nagata Collection)
On view January 17 (Thu) – January 28 (Mon)
And in accordance with his wishes, after this exhibition the works will be shown only within Shimane Prefecture.
In other words, this is the last chance to see the Nagata Collection in Tokyo.
Shimane Art Museum (Nagata Collection) On view for the full run ※Sections rotated
[Highlight 4] A parade of masterpieces!
Signature works such as the “Hokusai Manga” and the “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” are on view as well.
Shimane Art Museum (Shinjo Collection)
(On view February 21 (Thu) – March 24 (Sun)
※From January 17 (Thu) – February 18 (Mon), the work from the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum is on view instead)
Shimane Art Museum (Shinjo Collection) On view January 17 (Thu) – February 18 (Mon)
Shimane Art Museum (Nagata Collection) On view January 30 (Wed) – February 18 (Mon)
An exhibition of major note. Not one to miss!
Overview
Hokusai Updated
Dates: January 17 (Thu) – March 24 (Sun), 2019 ※Works rotated during the run
Venue: Mori Arts Center Gallery (Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 52F)
Hours: 10:00–20:00; Tuesdays until 17:00 ※Last entry 30 minutes before closing
Closed: January 29 (Tue), February 19 (Tue), February 20 (Wed), March 5 (Tue)
Organizers: The Nikkei, NHK, NHK Promotions, Mori Arts Center
Sponsors: ITOCHU Corporation, Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd.
Special cooperation: Shimane Art Museum
Cooperation: Japan Airlines
