Fun Facts About Hokusai
- Hokusai used at least thirty names during his lifetime, more pseudonyms than any other major Japanese artist. The name Hokusai itself means 'north studio'.[1]
- According to one story, Hokusai won a painting contest at the shogun's court by painting a blue curve and chasing a chicken with red-painted feet across it: maple leaves on the Tatsuta River.[1]
- In 1817 Hokusai painted a portrait of Daruma in Nagoya that measured 18 by 10.8 meters, earning him the name "Daruma Master".[1]
- Signing himself "The Old Man Mad About Art", Hokusai wrote that nothing he drew by his seventieth year was worth taking into account. On his deathbed he reportedly asked for five more years to become a real painter.[1]
- Claude Debussy had a print of The Great Wave hanging in his living room and asked for it on the cover of his published score of La Mer.[1][3][4]
- Hokusai's famous sketchbooks are called Manga, meaning "random drawings". The first volume came out in 1814 and was an immediate success.[1]
- Hokusai and Beethoven were alive at the same time for more than 56 years.[1][2][5][6]
- Hokusai was alive at the same time as Thomas Edison — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1847–1849).[1][2][7][8]
Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.[1]
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Questions About Hokusai
When was Hokusai born?
Hokusai was born on October 31, 1760, and died on May 10, 1849.
How old was Hokusai at death?
Hokusai was born on October 31, 1760, and died on May 10, 1849, at age 88.
What was Hokusai known for?
Hokusai was known for: The Great Wave, Japanese master printmaker. Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.
Who was alive at the same time as Hokusai?
Hokusai's closest contemporary was John Quincy Adams. Their lives overlapped for 81 years.
Sources
- Hokusai — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Hokusai (Q5586) — Wikidata
- Claude Debussy — Wikipedia
- Claude Debussy (Q4700) — Wikidata
- Ludwig van Beethoven — Wikipedia
- Ludwig van Beethoven (Q255) — Wikidata
- Thomas Edison — Wikipedia
- Thomas Edison (Q8743) — Wikidata
- Portrait: Hokusai as an old man.jpg — Wikimedia Commons. missing name, CC0