Kasushika Hokusai Research Paper

Hello, my name is Mariko Makishi. I am a second year student in Linn Benton Community College.

The influence of Katsushika Hokusai’s artworks is tremendous and extensive in western art history. For instance, Katsushika Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji inspired Claude Monet’s Haystack, Snow Effect in the year 1891. More specifically, as National Museum of Australia demonstrates that The technique of depiction of the forms about escarpment and lines of trees emerging in icy morning mists of Monet was came from In Shichirigahama in Sagami Province by Hokusai.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi born 1797 was one of the last great masters of the japanese ukiyo-e style woodblock prints and painting.

Yasumasa Morimura (born in 1951, Japan) has had a career in film-making and conceptual photography for over three decades. Morimura uses costumes, makeup props and digital manipulation to create an almost replica of the original artwork, replacing the original subject with himself. Morimura graduated from the Kyōto City University of Arts in 1978 and then became an assistant at that same university. During his time working he experimented with many mediums and styles including painting, photography and wood-block art. He soon became recognized for his artworks and began to be involved in traveling shows such as ‘Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky’ (1994). After some time, and with critics watching skeptically, he began to

“The Great Wave: Hokusai” by Donald Finkel is a poem written about “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa”, an artwork produced from 1831 to 1833 by Katsushika Hokusai during the Edo period. The “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” is just one of "The Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji". This woodblock print portrays a tremendous tsunami overpowering small man-powered boats, along with Mount Fuji in the background. The compelling contrast between the turbulent waves and light colored sky draws the viewer’s eyes to the central figure of Mount Fuji, which was considered a sacred symbol of beauty and immortality. In order for Finkel to develop a connection with Hokusai’s work of art, he finds common ground between the world of the artist and the observer. Donald Finkel’s

Eerikki Harou was a jarl born in a village in Scandinavia which is now modern-day Aarhus, Denmark. He was nicknamed “Eerikki the Bonesmasher.” Eerikki also was a pagan who worshipped warlike gods such as Odin, the god of war and death. He was known for leading numerous pillages against monasteries in Anglo-Saxon England. Sources say he and his men usually ambushed the monks, killed them swiftly, looted everything valuable out of the monastery, and left the site with many bloody corpses in his trail. His brutal and intuitive tactics caused fear among all people of Europe. This lead to a new prayer in many churches: “Save us, O God, from the fury of the Northmen.” In 878 AD, Eerikki fought with the Great Heathen Army led by Guthrum in the Battle

Around the age of six years old, Hokusai began painting and even spent time as an apprentice wood-carver in his youth. He began the art of print making when he was eighteen. His most famous painting, The Great Wave, can be seen in museums all over the world even though Japan delayed it from catching on worldwide. Many believe that it was painted in the early 1800s, but Japan was not interacting culturally with other countries apart from trade with China and Korea. It wasn’t until 1859 when the Japanese were forced to open their ports that prints of The Wave spread across Europe. Originally, this piece wasn’t viewed as real art by Japanese politicians and art historians. Wood-block printing was used for commercial use and as a popular form of expression. The Japanese government wasn’t too thrilled “that such a seemingly lowbrow art form had come to define them” (15 Things). About five thousand to eight thousand prints were made but it is speculated that only a few hundreds of The Great Wave remain. The painting actually inspired music like Debussy’s La Mer.

Morimura was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1951. He was educated at Kyoto City University of the Arts where he graduated in 1978. Yasumasa Morimura has achieved fame as a contemporary international artist largely due to his provocative interpretations. Using himself as the subject matter, he has recreated iconic images from Western culture in his

On March 22, 1929 in a mountainous region called Matsumoto which can be located in central Japan the world-famous artist Yayoi Kusama was born. Around the age of 10 she began using water color paints and lightly started to dabble in the arts. Kusama says she took up painting around the same time she started experiencing hallucinations. However, her family was not supportive of her pursuing any form of arts and would actually ruin the work she created as such a young age in hopes it would deter her from continuing in the field. Her family came from a very traditional upbringing and because of that wanted Kusama to continue on and go down the more conventional path of becoming a Japanese housewife. Which is completely ironic now considering where

Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer known for her soft depictions of everyday life. Born in 1972 in Shinga, Japan, Kawauchi studied photography and graphic design at the Seian University of Art and Design. After graduating in 1993, she went on to work as a freelance photographer in advertising. It was during this time that Kawauchi released three photo books, Utatane, Hanabi, and Hanako (2001). The success of the books turned her into a famed photographer. She has sinced released more photobooks, featured in galleries worldwide, and received several awards. Many of her photos feature a pastel color palette, making her otherwise ordinary subjects seem otherworldly. The photo I chose to analyze is Untitled (I-62). A different take on her usual colorful and simple photos, Kawauchi’s Untitled (I-62) presents a scene that for all purposes should be visually unappealing. Instead, the image is eye catching and pleasant, proposing an interesting question: is there beauty in death?

Yayoi Kusama a female Japanese artist and author made her debut to america in the late fifties , she decided to settle down in New York. She has explored various utensils of art like sculptures mostly consisting of pumpkins, fashion, installation art, and so many other adaptations of art.. Kusama enveloped several different concepts in her art with methods not seen before. Most commonly and most identifiable in her works were the concepts of surrealism and abstract. She enveloped these both concepts in her popular installation art. Experiences extending from her childhood would influence her choices in art and her uses of media to create her artworks.

Almost instantaneously recognizable, The Great Wave off Kanagawa (woodblock, 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in, c. 1830-32), created by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1830, beautifully captures the graceful, swelling movement of a crashing tsunami. Because of the way in which line and proportion are utilized, this woodblock print gracefully portrays the sheer power of the ocean. Derived from the Edo period in nineteenth century Japan, this classic was the first of a series of works from Hokusai titled Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, all of which effortlessly depict the mountain in a wide array of angles and scenery. Arguably, The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the most iconic and cherished piece of Japanese artwork in the world. Even more importantly, Hokusai is considered prominent father figure for both Japanese art, as well as Western modernization as a whole. The Great Wave truly displays how tiny and weak man is compared to the force of nature. Not only is The Great Wave a quintessential piece of art, but it established a piece in the comprehensive networks of art, trade, and politics, that has instilled a tremendous positive impact on the twenty first century.

Takashi Murakami is a very influential Japanese artist born after the 1960s. It is not only an artist widely loved in Japan, but also an idol of a new generation of young people in Japan. He challenges the traditional concept of art. The theme is often Japanese traditional comic books, video games, erotic culture-based, colorful and unique style, the cute, sexual fantasy, violence fusion, to show Japanese culture and Japanese society "Superflat" vent. The whimsical creative vision combined with deep darkness implies the values, social outlooks and phenomena that he believes through bright and rich colors. Takashi Murakami's art resisted taboo to the art of conservative Japanese society, but his art work did prominent his “different” between other artists. Every his art work has meaning to our society. As I look at the part of art work “Arhat cycle”, Takashi Murakami used a rich color to paint each Arhat. Unlike traditional art work of Arhat, in Takashi’s art work, he did challenge a lot of idea of Lohan. Originally Arhats are physically and mentally clean; no

Katsushika Hokusai was significant to Japan because he was one of the six greatest ukiyo-e masters. He was a founder of the School of Landscape Artists. The Japanese wood block, from the 18th century, was originally based around figure print (actors and courtesans). Then it tended to change around landscapes and everyday life, this was all because of Hokusai. The artist was said to be responsible for infusing landscape and ukiyo-e art forms. As he used this art form his art works

The Life of Hiroshige Ando Hiroshige Ando was born in 1797 in the Yayosu Quay section of the Yaesu area in Edo, now modern day Tokyo. He came from samurai background where his grandfather held a position of power under the Tsugaru clan while his father was the fire warden for the Yayosu Quay area. His mother died in early 1809 with Hiroshige’s father soon following. He became in charge of the fire prevention at Edo Castle at the age of twelve. At around fourteen Hiroshige began painting. In 1823 he resigned his position as fire warden to progress his career as an ukiyo-e painter. In 1829 Hiroshige produced his first landscape ukiyo-e which became known as part of the Eight Views of Omi series. After the first series he began focusing many of