When and where was Hokusai born?
Hokusai was born on the 31st of October 1760 in the Katsushika district of Edo. His father worked as a mirror-maker for the shogun, and his childhood name was Tokitaro.
Questions about Hokusai
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How many different names did Hokusai use during his lifetime?
The artist known mononymously as Hokusai used at least thirty different names during his lifetime. These frequent changes marked distinct periods in his career and reflected shifts in his artistic production.
What series includes The Great Wave off Kanagawa?
Hokusai created the monumental series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji as a response to domestic travel booms in Japan. Ten additional prints were added later due to the series' immense popularity.
Why did Hokusai change his name to Taito in 1811?
In 1811 at age fifty-one, Hokusai changed his name to Taito and began creating art manuals called etehon. The first volume of Manga meaning random drawings was published in 1814 and became an immediate success.
Where did Hokusai create The Masculine Wave and The Feminine Wave?
At age eighty-three he traveled to Obuse in Shinano Province at the invitation of a wealthy farmer named Takai Kozan. During his stay he created masterpieces including the Masculine Wave and the Feminine Wave.
Which European artists collected woodcuts by Hokusai?
Artists like Claude Monet Pierre-Auguste Renoir Edgar Degas Paul Gauguin Gustav Klimt and Vincent van Gogh collected his woodcuts. Richard Lane characterized him in 1985 as having impressed Western artists more than any other single Asian artist since the later nineteenth century.