Hokusai
by by Matthi Forrer

This is a reasonably priced introduction to one of the greatest wood block printers in Japan. Not much on text but long on prints. And what amazing prints they are. Hokusai lived from 1760-1849, at the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation. Even though contact with the outer world was minimal, Hokusai was aware of Western art and was influenced by it. An influence that was returned as, when Japan was opened in the latter half of the 19th century, Western artists were influenced by Japan's wood block prints. It boggles the mind to look at the fine detail on these prints and realize that these were printed from multiple wood blocks in which the images were carved. Aside from the exquisite coloring and composition, they are also views of life in feudal Japan.