36 Views of Mount Fuji, Ono Shinden in the Suruga Province, Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese Print
Ono Shinden in the Suruga Province is a woodblock painting showing the rice paddy fields of Ono in the Suruga Province. The print is one of a series of woodblock prints called Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji. Despite its name, the series however has 46 blocks, since ten were added at a later date to the series. Ono Shinden in the Suruga Province is among those added subsequently.
In the foreground of the picture are horses carrying huge loads of rice that has just been harvested. A number of farmers / peasants, all dressed similarly in blue like a uniform, are loading the rice on the horses’ backs, managing the horses, or carrying smaller loads on their own backs. Behind them, the rice paddies extend far into the horizon. Birds are flying over the paddies, showing the season. The picture presents a view of the daily life of farmers on a good day during the harvest.
Far in the distance, Mount Fuji dominates the skyline. It provides an apt background for the paddy fields. The series Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji shows Mount Fuji from different perspectives and different locations at different times of the year. The prevalence of the mountain in Hokusai’s works has a religious significance since Mount Fuji is a representation of immortal and eternal life in Japanese Buddhism. Hokusai was a Buddhist of the Nichiren sect and hence gave special attention to the sacred mountain in his various art works.
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.
