36 Views of Mount Fuji, Honjo Tatekawa the timberyard at Honjo Sumida, Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese Print
One of his most intricate works perhaps, is Katsushika Hokusai’s Honjo Tatekawa, the timberyard at Honjo Sumida. This Japanese woodblock print depicts a work of landscape art by Hokusai, part of his Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji series of woodblock prints.
It portrays both industry and activity rendered in the traditional Ukiyo-e style, using transparent, water-based ink. It’s very much a linear work that makes use of juxtaposing angles in every aspect to create areas of visual interest. Our eyes are immediately drawn to the long, vertical lines of timber to the the right, then over to the curiously stooped postures of the men working in the yard. Even those forms of flesh and bone are strangely angular. Upon further examination, we find the rooftops of the houses to consist of an assortment of angles, the only softening feature being the curved treetops or bushes amidst houses and timber.
The man on the upper left hand side throws what appears to be a timber log down to his waiting co-worker far below, while a third man is bent over his saw, to the right of the picture, sawing his timber in a perfectly straight line. The print captures an incredible amount of work achieved, energy spent; yet we only see three men on the scene. Its appeal stems from its illustration of activity and the suggestion of a movement toward progressiveness.
Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽三十六景 Fugaku Sanjūroku-kei, c. 1831) which includes the internationally iconic print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Hokusai created the “Thirty-Six Views” both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. It was this series, specifically The Great Wave print and Fine Wind, Clear Morning, that secured Hokusai’s fame both in Japan and overseas. As historian Richard Lane concludes, “Indeed, if there is one work that made Hokusai’s name, both in Japan and abroad, it must be this monumental print-series”. While Hokusai’s work prior to this series is certainly important, it was not until this series that he gained broad recognition.
All prints are made using archival art stocks and UV pigment inks to give up to 200 years life. Choose from unframed, framed and mounted and canvas panel options.
