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Hokusai's Manga:
A genius of design and passionate draftsman, the woodblock print master Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) created thousands of drawings and a legacy of extraordinary landscape prints. Hokusai's many illustrated books have inspired generations of woodblock artists. Among them, Hokusai Manga is one of the most distinguished.
Hokusai Manga is a series of fifteen volumes published between 1814 and 1878. Hokusai and his publishers used the term "manga" to suggest "casual drawing" or "rapid sketches." The Manga series was extremely popular and widely circulated during its time. Many of these volumes were reprinted several times during the artist's life time. The astonishing total of eight hundred pages in the series provides an invaluable resource for later artists. The Dayton Art Institute is fortunate to own a complete fourteen volumes by the master.
Hokusai drew nearly four thousand images for the series. They are blocked-printed in black, gray, and pale orange colors. Each individual page in a volume consists of a grouping of various small subjects, measuring no more than one to one-and-a-half inches. These drawings are rough, quick, and impromptu sketches of bird[s] and flowers, human figures, animals, and still lives, as well as supernatural creatures.
Although Hokusai's "manga" differs from today's Japanese comics, it has become the inspiration for many contemporary Japanese comic book artists. The incongruous scenes and caricature-like facial expressions in Hokusai Manga demonstrate his creative power. The touch of irony and humor in his drawings continues to appeal [to] viewers today.
This exhibition presents the fourteen volumes of Hokusai Manga in addition to other related works by Hokusai. Two pages from each of the fourteen volumes displayed in the gallery provide the viewer an opportunity to enjoy the exceptional skill and creativity of this master artist. |