Hokusai's Mount Fuji: The Complete Views in Color Hardcover – June 1, 2007

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was an incredibly productive and versatile artist. Over a 70 year career he worked across multiple genres and media. The world knows him mainly for his prints but he was also a painter. He illustrated books, designed cutout dioramas and toys, produced the contemporary equivalent of modern greeting cards, sketched some 4000 instructional designs for his pupils and other artists, produced massive paintings presumably as publicity stunts, and even sketched designs for advertising household products like smoking pipes and combs.Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mt. Fuji was published at the beginning of the 1830s, and was the first major, financially successful Japanese landscape print series in the history of ukiyo-e. While there certainly were landscape-focused prints and series in the decades before this one, none are familiar today except to scholars.The 36 Views was so successful out the gate that the publisher ultimately decided to add 10 designs. So the title says 36 but in fact the complete set includes 46 designs.Jocelyn Bouquillard is curator at the French National Library in the photography and prints department, and he specializes in Japanese landscape prints. His book is a nice, compact way to own a complete photo set of these prints. Each is accompanied by brief explanatory text, and some photos are blown up for viewing detail. Typical art book glossy paper stock is not used here but that helps keeps the price reasonably low.Of critical importance to any volume on this subject is the quality of prints selected for the plates. Here, three 36 Views collections owned by the French National Library comprise the original source material. The earliest of the collections was donated to the Library in 1888. Judging by the richness of color and generally fine condition of the prints given their age, this is a book worth owning.I’ve seen some criticism here which I think is misinformed. Most original or early edition 19th century prints have issues of one kind or another. At the time, knowledge of how to care for works of art on paper was nothing like it is today. So some prints reproduced in this book have issues, but they are not of the kind that would deter a serious, knowledgeable collector. Fold lines down the center or occasional smudges pale in comparison to the quality of original carving and printing which are still discernible._______________________________Mt. Fuji embodies profound spirituality under the ancient Shinto belief that everything has a divine essence. This applies not only to people, but to ancestors - along with animals, inanimate objects, and everything natural - including trees, thunderstorms, and mountains. As the largest mountain in Japan, Fuji carries a particularly deep spiritual significance, easily attracting a devout being like Hokusai.Hokusai’s 36 Views are sometimes compared to Monet’s Haystacks (and the Rouen Cathedral canvases). Working 60 years after Hokusai began the 36 Views, Monet produced 25 paintings which explore haystacks at different times of day in different light, from different angles, and in different weather - exactly what Hokusai does in his series.Is there a connection? We know the Impressionists were in awe of Japanese prints. We also know that Monet had a sizable collection, with a substantial helping of Hokusai. Some of Monet’s most admired work was directly inspired by Japonisme, the love affair with Japanese art and culture which took Europe and America by storm in the later 19th century.

While many people with even a brief exposure to Asian art are familiar with Hokusai's The Great Wave and Red Fuji, far fewer have been exposed to the entire series of prints that helped inspire a worldwide fascination with all things Japanese. The publication of Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji (1829-33) and its 10 supplementary additions (1834) brought the Japanese landscape print to a new level of mastery and influence that is still being felt today. Now with Hokusai's Mount Fuji: The Complete Views in Color, one can take the solemn journey through the 46 landscapes of a vanished world that to this day affect how Japan and its people are perceived by the Western world.Looking through the entire series of plates (each with concise commentaries), one immediately notices how the eye is instantly drawn to the iconic shape of Mount Fuji, which appears in different sizes and locations. From this one fixed focal point, the rest of the picture can be taken in, understood, and personally interpreted. Under luminous, multi-colored skies, Hokusai reproduces landscapes and architecture with mind-bogglingly intricate detail. One also notices how relatively insignificant the human figures (even when depicted in the foreground) appear when compared with their milieu, almost as if their placement is coincidental and only included for realistic accuracy. People appear more prominently in the later prints, but even then are mostly shown with their backs to the viewer, looking away indifferently, or with faces obscured by hats. Nature, weather, light, atmosphere, and the omnipresent form of Mount Fuji dominate each picture's panorama. In five instances, the print has been greatly enlarged to show more detail. Beyond a preface and three brief introductory essays, this book provides very little verbage, allowing the prints to speak for themselves. The commentaries are helpful in drawing the viewer's attention to details they might have missed, but thankfully are not integral to one's enjoyment of this book.The plates reproduced in this book are taken from three collections in the French National Library. We're told that the finest impressions have been selected, but picky purchasers should be forewarned that no reproduction (especially one from over a century ago) is perfect, and smudges, creases, printing blotches, and fold-marks can be seen on almost every page. While readily apparent, these miniscule distractions did not ruin the book for this reader. One reproduction quibble I would like to raise involves borders: some of the prints have a complete white border on all four sides, some have a white border at the top and bottom only, and some take up the entire page and bleed over onto the facing page. I have no idea what influenced these artistic-editorial decisions, but they do not interfere with the viewer's enjoyment. While a little more uniformity would have been appreciated, I can still highly recommend this wonderful book to those who enjoy Japanese landscape art/ukiyo-e.

Great detail to what little I knew about the artist and the work. Excellent pictures and very good insight into period and artist. Makes me want to know more about both.

This is a compact and personal way of collecting outstanding artwork. Thats not to say it wouldn't have a greater appeal if printed at twice its size.

beautiful book

Got this after a visit to Japan and seeing the beautiful prints all over. Saw the real thing too!

Dieses Buch basiert auf Originalen aus dem Bestand der französischen Nationalbibliothek (BNF). Für dieses Projekt wurden die besten Drucke aus drei in der BNF aufgegangen Sammlungen ausgewählt. Der Autor ist Kunsthistoriker und Japanspezialist. Er gibt eine gute, kurze Einführung in dieses Werk Hokusais sowie kurze Erläuterungen zu jedem Druck.Was mir weniger gefallen hat ist die Qualität der Wiedergabe im Druck. Beispiel dazu: In Bild 39 sind die Kirschblüten farblos. Das gleiche Motiv in der Miniatur auf der Umschlagrückseite fällt farblich ganz anders aus, wobei die Kirschblüten sich rosa abheben). Ebenso kann man darüber diskutieren ob es in einem Buch mit so dokumentarischem Charakter notwendig ist die Abbildungen anzuschneiden oder durch den Rücken laufen zu lassen.Die Hauptabbildungen sind auf ca. 55-75% verkleinert, einige Ausschnitte in etwa Originalgröße wiedergegeben.

Un tout petit prix, les magnifiques estampes d'Hokusai, et un commentaire éclairant pour chacune ( mais attention, en anglais, ce qui peut être un problème!)

So pleased to have got my hands on this book at last, I will keep it forever. (This is from some one who has a limited amount of space and fast turnover of books!)