Hokusai 'A Philosopher Watching a Pair of Butterflies', Japan, 18-19th Century, Reproduction 200gsm A3 Ukiyo-e Classic Art Poster

Beautiful reproductions by World of Art of classic Japanese ukiyo-e art by the legendary Hokusai, faithfully reproduced on 200gsm-thick four-star Green Star eco-friendly paper with a soft-satin low-sheen finish and high quality inks to retain colour vibrancy for years to come. Green star system approved paper is a universally recognised eco-responsibility paper based on the origin of the fibre and the manufacturing process. All our posters are standard A3 size and look beautiful with or without frames but if you're thinking of framing then a standard A3 frame will fit perfectly. All posters come with a thin white border.

Please note before ordering all our posters are reproduction posters

Standard A3 Size

16.53" x 11.69"

42cm x 29.7cm

420mm x 297mm

Thank you for ordering from us

Your custom is appreciated

...

Katsushika Hokusai, 1760 to 1849, was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting. Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji 三which includes the internationally recognized print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created during the 1820s. He created the Thirty-Six Views both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. Hokusai was known by at least thirty names during his lifetime. Although the use of multiple names was a common practice of Japanese artists of the time, the numbers of names he used far exceeds that of any other major Japanese artist. Hokusai's name changes are so frequent, and so often related to changes in his artistic production and style, that they are used for breaking his life up into periods. At the age of 12, he was sent by his father to work in a bookshop and lending library, a popular type of institution in Japanese cities, where reading books made from wood-cut blocks was a popular entertainment of the middle and upper classes. At 14, he became an apprentice to a wood-carver, where he worked until the age of 18, whereupon he was accepted into the studio of Katsukawa Shunshō. Shunshō was an artist of ukiyo-e, a style of wood block prints and paintings that Hokusai would master, and head of the so-called Katsukawa school. Ukiyo-e, as practiced by artists like Shunshō, focused on images of the courtesans and Kabuki actors who were popular in Japan's cities at the time. After a year, Hokusai's name changed for the first time, when he was dubbed Shunrō by his master. It was under this name that he published his first prints, a series of pictures of Kabuki actors published in 1779. During the decade he worked in Shunshō's studio, Hokusai was married to his first wife, about whom very little is known except that she died in the early 1790s. He married again in 1797, although this second wife also died after a short time. He fathered two sons and three daughters with these two wives, and his youngest daughter Sakae, also known as Ōi, eventually became an artist. Upon the death of Shunshō in 1793, Hokusai began exploring other styles of art, including European styles he was exposed to through French and Dutch copper engravings he was able to acquire. He was soon expelled from the Katsukawa school by Shunkō, the chief disciple of Shunshō, possibly due to studies at the rival Kanō school. This event was, in his own words, inspirational: "What really motivated the development of my artistic style was the embarrassment I suffered at Shunkō's hands." Hokusai also changed the subjects of his works, moving away from the images of courtesans and actors that were the traditional subjects of ukiyo-e. Instead, his work became focused on landscapes and images of the daily life of Japanese people from a variety of social levels. This change of subject was a breakthrough in ukiyo-e and in Hokusai's career