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[Art Review] A Question about the Originality of Katsushika Hokusai’s Ukiyo-e, viz. The Great Wave off Kanagawa

(Images added, Text amended 25/10/2022, Paragraphs appended, revised 15/01/2023)

(1) Introduction

It is no exaggeration to say that Hokusai Katsushika (葛飾北齋, 1760 - 1849) is one of the most famous painters in the world. In the late 19th century, his works were brought to Europe, where Impressionism was flourishing, and evoked the so-called “Japonism”, inspiring Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Edgar Degas, Gustave Courbet, et al. Edmond de Goncourt states as below at the beginning of his great book, Hokusai: Japanese Art in the 18th Century[1] , published in 1896.

“In both hemispheres, it is therefore the same injustice for any independent talent of the past! Here is the painter, who victoriously removed the painting from his country with Persian and Chinese influences, and who, by a study, so to speak, religious of nature, rejuvenated it, renewed it, made it truly all Japanese; here is the universal painter who, with the most living drawing, reproduced the man, the woman, the bird, the fish, the tree, the flower, the blade of grass; here is the painter, who would have executed 30,000 drawings or paintings? Here is the painter, who is the true creator of Oukiyoye*, the founder of the Vulgar School, That Is To Say the man who, imitating the academic painters of the Tosa School, did not content himself with representing, in a precious convention, the splendour of the court, the official life of the high dignitaries, the pompous artifice of aristocratic lives, brought the entire humanity of his country into a reality beyond the noble requirements of painting there; here is finally the passionate, the panicked of his art, who signs his productions: crazy about drawing.

“Well, this painter (apart from the cult dedicated to him by his students) was considered by his contemporaries as an entertainer of the scoundrel, a low artist, with productions unworthy of being watched by the serious men of taste of the Sunrise Empire. And this contempt, which the American painter La Farge still held for me yesterday, following the conversations he had had in Japan with the country's idealistic painters, has continued until recent days, when we Europeans, but the French in the front line, revealed to Hokusai’s homeland, the great artist she lost half a century ago. “Yes, which makes Hokusai one of the most original artists on earth: this is what prevented him from enjoying the glory he deserved during his lifetime, and the Dictionary of Illustrious Men of Japan notes that Hokusai did not meet with the public the veneration accorded to the great painters of Japan, because he devoted himself to the representation of the vulgar Life, but that if he had succeeded Kano and Tosa, he would certainly have surpassed the Okiyo** (― Maruyama, 圓山應擧) and the Bountcho (― Tani, 谷文晁).”[2]

(Notes: ^*)Oukiyoye (浮世繪: Usually spelled as Ukiyo-e, ^**)Okiyo (應擧): Usually spelled as Oukyo.)

In Japan, the artistic value of Hokusai’s work became appreciated after the 1880s, following its reputation in Europe. In recent years, his ukiyo-e painting Red Fuji (赤富士), or South Wind, Clear Sky (凱風快晴) in Thirty-three Views of Mt. Fuji (富嶽三十六景, 1831) was designed on the rear side of the commemorative 100-yen coin for the 1970 Osaka World Expo, and has been printed on the inside of the front cover of passports since 2020 (Fig.0). The Great Wave off Kanagawa will be printed on the back of the new 1,000-yen banknote scheduled to be effected in 2024.

Fig.0 Left: Hokusai’s Red Fuji (赤富士)[3], Middle: 1970 Osaka Expo 100 yen commemorative coin with the Red Fuji[4], Right: The inside of the front cover of Japanese passports since 2020.[5]

Numerous books and commentaries have been written about Hokusai both at home and abroad. Despite the artistry of his works being highly acclaimed here and there, I would like to present in this article what I had felt about Hokusai’s originality.”

(2) The question and answer

I first had the question in the title when I visited the National Museum in Ueno, Tokyo several years ago. Although my target was the Folding screen depicting bears on the rocks with wisteria and a wild boar in the thicket of bush clover (岩藤熊萩野猪圖屏風) by Gyokusen Mochizuki (望月玉泉)[6], I was fascinated by the Billows (波濤圖) by Maruyama Oukyo (圓山應擧), which hang in the next booth, and had a question: “Isn’t it similar to Hokusai’s famous The Great Wave off Kanagawa?” Back at home, I did a quick search and found that The Great Wave off Kanagawa appeared in 1831 (The 2nd year of Tempo), included in the first edition of Thirty-three Views of Mt. Fuji (富嶽三十六景), 40-odd years after Oukyo’s painting. The two pictures are shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1 Left: Billows by Oukyo Maruyama (圓山應擧筆「波濤圖」), 1788, held by Kongoji Temple, Kyoto (京都・金剛寺蔵), Photo taken by M. Iguchi, Nov. 2017. Right: The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai (北斎: 神奈川沖浪裏), 1831, Duplicated from the homepage of Rejksmuseum, Amsterdam.[7] .

Also I learnt that there were precursors for The Great Wave off Kanagawa, i.e., two western-style woodcuts entitled The scene of Honmoku off Kanagawa (賀奈川沖本杢之圖, 1803)” and Fast boat sailing over the wave (押送船波濤通船圖, 1805). In addition, a drawing called Fuji above the Sea (海上の不二) published in 1834, after The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831), was found. See Fig.2.

Fig.2 (1) The view of Honmoku off Kanagawa (賀奈川沖本杢之圖), woodcut, 1803. Held by Sumida Hokusai Art Museum (すみだ北斎美術館蔵).[8] (2) Fast boat sailing over the wave (押送船波濤通船圖), woodcut, 1805. Held by Tokyo National Museum.[9] (3)Fuji above the Sea (海上の不二), 1834, in the illustrated book Mt. Fuji - One Hundred Views Vol.2 (富嶽百景-二編), 1834，Held by Tokyo National Museum.[10]

In these four pictures, one may notice that the depictions of wave crests differ between the early two and later two works. Specifically, in the works in 1803 and 1805, the wave crests are depicted rather naturally as would have projected to the artist’s eye, whilst in those in 1831 and 1834, the crests are stylised, similar to those in Billows by Oukyo in1788, into patterns that look like the arm of a starfish washed up on the beach and transformed (Fig.3).

Fig.３ Starfish washed up on the beach of Scotland and their arms transformed by Storm Arwen on 30/11/2021. Duplicated from the Internet BBC News page.[11] .

Such depiction of billows by Oukyo (1733-1795) is seen in his earlier work. “The scene of great water disaster” (Fig. 4), which is a part of the Scroll of Seven Disasters and Seven Blessings (七難七福), painted in 1768 for the Shorinji sub-temple (勝林寺) of Toufukuji Temple (東福寺) in Kyoto supposed to be the archetype of its kind.

Fig. 4 The scene of great water disaster (大水難之圖), a part of the Scroll of Seven Disasters and Seven Blessings (七難七福), 1768. Held by the Kyoto National Museum. Duplicated from a blog article.[12]

Such a stylised depiction of billows seems to be traditional to the Kano School that had given significant influence to Oukyo, such as seen in theFolding screen of billings (波濤圖屏風), painted in ca. 1606-1613[13] , by Tsunenobu Kano (1636 - 1713), shown in Fig.5.

Fig.5 Folding screen of billings (波濤圖屏風) by Tsunenobu Kano (狩野常信). Duplicated from: Idemitsu Art Museum, “Discover Beauty of Japan VI (日本の美・発見 VI), 2011. 

During his stay in Obuse in Shinshu (小布施, 信州) in his later years (1844-48), Hokusai painted the “Male wave” and “Female wave” (Fig.6) on the ceiling of festival float of “Kamimachi” with billows similar to those in The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Fig.6 Male wave and Female wave by Hokusai Katsushika on the ceiling of festival float of Kamimachi, Obuse, Shinshu. Duplicated from The Obuse Hokusaikan Homepage.[14]

The above facts suggest that Hokusai was strongly influenced by the painting of Oukyo or the Kano School.

Another feature seen in The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the droplets drawn in dots in the back as well as around the crest of the waves. Surveying the Internet, I have realised that, in the works by artists who preceded Hokusai, the cases of droplets drawn in dots were unexpectedly rare, but found examples in the works of Jakuchu Ito (伊藤若冲, 1716 - 1800), viz.Rising Sun and Phoenix (旭日鳳凰圖) and Folding screen of Elephant and Whale (象と鯨圖屏風), both painted much earlier than The Great Wave off Kanagawa, in 1755 and 1795, respectively (Fig.7, Fig.8). Unfortunately, no evidence to show whether Hokusai imitated them has been found.

Fig.7 Rising Sun and Phoenix (旭日鳳凰圖), 1755, by Jakuchu Ito (伊藤若冲). Total view (left) and the part of water droplet.[15]

Fig. 8 Folding screen of Elephant and Whale (象と鯨圖屏風) 1795, by Jakuchu Ito (伊藤若冲). Total view (left) and the part of water droplet.[16]

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is said to have been inspired by, or suspected to have been the imitation of transom sculpture, The Wave and Peaked Treasure Orb at Muryoju-in Gyogenji Temple (無量壽院行元寺) which a contemporary master-craftsman, Ihachi (Takeshi Ihachirou Nobuyoshi, 武志伊八郎信由, 1751 - 1824) worked on by order in 1809.[17];[18]

Fig.9 The Wave and Peaked Treasure Orb, a transom sculpture at Muryoju-in Gyogenji Temple (無量壽院行元寺) by Ihachi (Takeshi Ihachirou Nobuyoshi (武志伊八郎信由) 1809. Duplicated from Isumi City Portal site.[19]

Among such views found here and there was a harsh criticism in the “Events in the Kwansei Period (寛政年間記事)” in the Buko Chronicle (武江年表)[20] , edited by Masanobu Okumura (奥村政信), a contemporary scholar and painter. The relevant part is quoted below.

The crowding of people on the occasion of the relocation of the Two Saint Statues on the last day of every month started around the Kwansei Era. Famous at that age were (1) such Confucianists as Hokusan Yamamoto, Housai Kameda, Heishu Hosoi, Rissai Hattori, Ritsuzan Shibano, Seiri Koga and Hakuga Arai, who were good at divination, (2) such Painters as Sukoku Kou, Buncho Tani, Kyujo Tou, Setsurei Hasegawa, Fuyo Suzuki, Ransai Mori, (3) such Comic poets as Kisshu Karakoromo, Shunman Shousado (who was also an ukiyo-e artist), Magao Kyokado, Meshimori Rokujuen, Shokusanjin and Nagane Shakuyakutei, (4) such ukiyo-e artists as Eishi Choubunnsai, Shunkou Katsukawa, Shunei Katsukawa, Kyutokusai, Sharaku Toshusai, Utamaro Kitagawa, Shigemasa Kitawo, Masanobu Kitawo, Masami Kyoden, Kichousai, Shunman Kubo (alias Shoudou who was also a comic poet), Hokusai Katsushika who produced prints of comic poems and many illustrated books, Kabikido, Enkyo, Chouki Eishousai, Shundo Rantokusai, Masunobu Tanaka, Sancho Furukawa, Torin Tsutsumi and Kincho.

Kintei (― Kitamura) said that among Confucianists were such famous persons as Kwansai Ichikawa, Kenzo Katsushika, Nyotei Kashiwagi, Sutezo Sato and Ryosuke Bito: Comic poets included Midara-houshi, Ichindo Asakusa-an, Kansoku Souyouan II, and others. (1) Shunman had craftsmen, received the orders of prints asked experts to work. Shunman himself cleverly painted by left-hand but his works were not good. (2) Hokusai was a cunning man, although he had a peculiar drawing style. Masayoshi (― Kitawo) who had shaved his head, adopted the surname of Kano, named himself as Tsugusane (Kuwagata) and became famous, said, “Hokusai always imitates the works of other persons. He has originated nothing new. After Keisai published the “Sketch method” (畧畫式), Hokusai drew “Hokusai Comics (北齋漫畫).” When Tsugusane contrived the “Edo Total View” (江戸一覧圖), Hokusai produced the nishiki-e (錦繪) painting, “Tokaido Total View (東海道一覧の圖)”…

(Note: Names in Kanji can be referred to in the corresponding text in the Japanese page.)

In the above comments, important points are that Kintei Kitamura (喜多村筠庭), a researcher of the late Edo period, said that “Hokusai was a cunning man, despite he had a peculiar drawing style” and that Masayoshi Kitawo (北尾政美, alias 鍬形蕙斎), who had established himself as a painter angrily criticised Hokusai as “Hokusai always imitates the works of other persons. He has originated nothing new.” Although the Kitawo’s slap might have been the expression of their jealousy towards Hokusai who was acclaimed not only for his artistic talent but also for his business acumen, these statements do not necessarily seem to be inadequate, as exemplified below.

For comparison, the extracts of Kitawo’s Sketch Method and Hokusai’s Hokusai Comics are shown in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, respectively.

Fig.10 The Sketch Method by Keisai Kuwagata (alias Masayoshi Kitawo, 鍬形蕙斎 or 北尾政美), 1795. Extracts p.28, 29.[21]

Fig.11 Hokusai Comics Vol.2 (北斎漫畫二編), 1814 (Held by Smithsonian Institution Library).[22] Extracts p.7-8, 9-10.

The Folding Screen of Edo Total View , 1809, was a bird-eye view of the whole Edo area, painted on a large 353 cm (w) x 176 cm (h) six-folding screen: The depiction is extremely detailed as four parts are shown in Fig. 12. On the other hand, Hokusai’s Tokaido Total View, shown in Fig. 13, was a nishiki-e print of 44 x 60 cm size, published in 1818, in which the range from Edo to Kyoto was overlooked in a topographically distorted shape and the scenery of famous places were depicted in a rather rough manner.

Fig.１2 The Folding Screen of Edo Total View by Keisai Kuwagata (alias Masayoshi Kitawo), 1809. 353 cm (w) x 176 cm (h).Total view and details of 4 parts. Held by Tsuyama Kyodo Museum.[23]

Fig.13 Tokaido Total View Nishiki-e, by Hokusai Katsushika, 1818. Held by Kobe City Museum.[24]

It is also pointed out that Hokusai’s The thirty-six views of Mt. Fuji (富嶽三十六景), 1831, was inspired by the Minsetsu Kawamura (河村岷雪)’s picture collection ofOne hundred view of Mt. Fuji (百富士), 1767[25] , as extracts are shown in Fig. 14.

Fig.14 One Hundred View of Mt. Fuji (百富士) by Minsetsu Kawamura (河村岷雪). Left: Cover, Right: Under the bridge (橋下).[26]

(3) Comments on the NHK's Programme about Hokusai

In December 2022, it happened to me to see a rebroadcast of NHK's Historical Detective Series Programme, Katsushika Hokusai - The Secret of a Genius Painter.[27] The contents was briefly as follows

Investigation 1: Place where the Red Fuji and Black Fuji were drawn

Photographs of Mt. Fuji were taken at 25 points in the periphery of the mountain to try to identify the sketch points of the two pictures in the Thirty-three Views of Mt. Fuji. From the inverted Y shape of the remaining snow, the Red Fuji was estimated to have been sketched from the vicinity of the mouth of the Fuji River, and then photographs of Mt. Fuji was taken at different times from the Fuji City Hall. Around sunrise, the area near the summit was dyed red but the areas below were not exposed to the sun and remained dark. As the sun rose, the red colour near the summit faded out and the entire mountain gradually became brighter. The picture was interpreted as if Hokusai had condensed the passage of time in a single painting. Black Fuji was assumed to have been sketched from the vicinity of Fujinomiya, from the Misaka Mountains drawn at the left side foot of the mountain. Then, a helicopter was flown to see such a thunderstorm drawn at the foot of the mountain but in vain because the weather of day was fine.

Investigation 2: Find out the identity of Hokusai's Great Wave

The project team sailed a boat from Kanagawa Port out to sea but such a great wave (triangular wave) as depicted in The Great Wave off Kanagawa was not observed. The programme showed a triangular wave generated in an experimental water tank.

The above three pictures are shown in his Fig.15.

Fig.15 Three pictures of Mt. Fuji taken up in the programme[28].

Investigation 3: Solve the mystery of the ghost-painter

The programme concluded that many of his works in his later years were assisted by his daughter, Oyei.

Aside from the Investigation (3), the investigations of (1) and (2) were based on the premise that Hokusai had actually visited each viewpoint to sketch Mt. Fuji but the premise seemed questionable to me. Since a theory has it that the Thirty-three Views of Mt. Fuji would have been the adaptation of Minsetsu Kawamura’s One hundred Mt. Fuji[29], pictures of the mountain with snow caps, such as depicted in the Red Fuji and Black Fuji, were searched in the original edition of One hundred Mt. Fuji[30] and five pieces shown in Fig. 16, found.

Fig. 16 Five snow-capped figures from Minsetsu Kawamura’sOne Hundred Mt. Fuji.[31] All of them were painted in Sunshu (the present-day Shizuoka Pref.) The numbers are page numbers, not figure numbers.

By comparison, Hokusai's Red Fuji and Black Fuji have been revealed to be more or less similar to the pictures of Miyahara (Miyahara, Fujinomiya City) and Ōmiya (Fujinomiya City Centre), respectively, agreeing with the approximations in the NHK programmes.

Regarding the NHK’s Investigation 2: Find out the identity of Hokusai's Great Wave, there has been a suspicion, as mentioned above, that it might be an imitation of the transom sculpture,The Wave and Peaked Treasure Orb, by Takeshi Ihachirou Nobuyoshi.[32];[33]

On the Internet, an interesting commentary, i.e., for “CD version 36 views of Mt.Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai 46 landscapes”[34], was found. It said, “Hokusai was 72 years old at the time of its publication. In fact, Hokusai did not draw all of those 46 pictures by seeing the actual landscapes. He skilfully constructed the views of mountain that changes by season and weather with his outstanding power of imagination and arrangement, with reference to traditional materials and past pictures of famous places. ...” The writer’s name was anonymous but it seems that this commentary, which could depreciate the value of the product, was the expression of the his honest view.

Why did not NHK investigate the above matters at the stage of programme planning, or, did they intentionally ignore them? In either case, it is no exaggeration to say that the program is an arbitrary fabrication of history by the planner.

In the past, NHK's programmes bore a certain level of credibility but in recent years their quality has drastically deteriorated, so as the present Historical Detective Series Programmes with the intoned narration by a popular actor seem to be no more than an entertainment programme to my eye. The problem is that most viewers, except for the present writer and a few others, will be led to misunderstand as if the false history were the true history.

(4) The distinctive feature of Hokusai’s works

Although Hokusai is famed as an ukiyo-e artist, he acquired various skills during his eighty-nine years of life. Born in 1760, Hokusai worked in a bookstore as a child and became interested in illustrated books. He then had the ambition to become an illustrator and, at the age of 18, he become a disciple of Shunsho Katsukawa (勝川春章) and drew illustrations, published his own illustrated papers and wrote pop novels. At the age of twenty-nine, he became independent and drew numerous illustrations. In 1793, at the age of thirty-three, he published his first print. In 1795, he named himself as Sori (宗理) after Sotatsu Tawaraya whom he respected. He published many series of prints and illustrated prints. He interacted with a Dutch doctors and Kapitan, and received their orders. He learned perspective and shading and incorporated them into his prints. He also made copperplate engravings. In the 1810s he published Hokusai Comics. In his later years, he published collections of autographs.

Thus Hokusai’s repertoire was quite varied, starting with engravings, illustrations, sketches, ukiyo-e paintings, printed books, hand-drawn illustrations, and student guides. As objects, he covered people on the street, familiar still lifes, animals and plants, landscapes of towns and mountains and rivers, historical figures and incidents, and people and scenes related to classical Japanese poetry and Tang poetry.

In my opinion, because Hokusai was endowed with extraordinary talent, his behaviour was always unrestrained. He was not the type to aim at one art, for instance, the wood print. It is said that, possibly to respond to the order of publishers, he gave priority to the mass production and in his later years even made an adaptation of his disciple, Shinsai Ryuryukyo (柳々居辰斎).[35]

The most distinctive feature of Hokusai’s works is considered to be the “construction”, the typical examples beingThe Scene of Fujimigabara in Bishu (尾州不二見原)”, aliasMt. Fuji with Barrel Carpenter (桶屋の富士) andThe Bottom of Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa (深川万年橋下), in the Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji (富嶽三十六景), shown in Fig. 15. A Western-style version of the latter with a similar composition, entitled the Fuji at Takahashi Bridge (たかはしのふじ), shown in Fig. 16, is also known.

Fig.17 Left: The Scene of Fujimigabara in Bishu (尾州不二見原), alias Mt. Fuji with Barrel Carpenter (桶屋の富士)”. Right:The Bottom of Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa (深川万年橋下). Both in the Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji (富嶽三十六景), 1831-34, by Hokusai Katsushika.[36]

Fig.18 Fuji at Takahashi Bridge (たかはしのふじ), a Western-style print by Hokusai Katsushika. The year unknown.[37]

Even though these paintings look eccentric, they are in accordance with the laws of perspective. The key point is the “viewpoint”, as is also important in photography. Fig. 17 shows a picture of “Hokusai-like” composition, which I had taken with no consciousness.

Fig.19 A photograph of Hokusai-like composition, Shigisan Chogosonshi Temple and the Big papier‐mâché tiger viewed from the Red Gate, taken by the present writer with Nikon Z6, F=24.0 mm, 13/11/2021[38]

Acknowledgements:

Thanks are due to my granddaughter, Kanako, a student in Hokkaido University, who thoroughly edited the text of this article.

References