Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) was the first Japanese artist to be internationally recognized, and his art continues to inspire the imaginations of viewers two centuries later. Drawing from its preeminent Japanese collection, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), presents Hokusai through August 9, 2015. Home of the finest Hokusai collection in the world, the MFA is uniquely positioned to offer a comprehensive exhibition of this remarkable artist. Showcasing more than 230 works from Hokusai’s seven-decade career, the exhibition features some of the most iconic images in art history, including an early edition of the color woodblock print Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) (about 1830–31)—a work frequently referenced in pop culture, from tattoos to emoji. The Great Wave is part of the legendary series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. This exhibition marks the first time the MFA has displayed 36 views together. Also on view is the unique and brilliantly colored multi-panel screen painting, Phoenix (1835), which measures almost eight feet long. Spanning Hokusai’s work from his 20s through his 80s, the exhibition explores common themes through sections dedicated to topics such as landscapes, nature and the “Floating World” of urban culture (including depictions of the Kabuki theater and the Yoshiwara pleasure district). Works that depict Japanese historical and literary motifs are featured along with “perspective prints” with exaggerated vanishing points for use in toy peep shows. An extremely delicate silk square of a mythological Chinese lion, likely used as a gift wrapper (fukusa), is also included, in a rare public display of the work. Hokusai builds upon an extremely popular traveling exhibition organized by the MFA in 2014, also called Hokusai, which toured Japan and drew over 500,000 visitors in Nagoya, Kobe, Kitakyushu and Tokyo.
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