Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist and one of the greatest masters of the woodblock print. Born in Edo, now Tokyo, in 1760, he worked for decades under many names and in many styles before creating the images that made him world famous in his seventies. His series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji includes The Great Wave, an image of a towering, clawing wave that is now one of the most recognized artworks on earth.

He was astonishingly productive, making tens of thousands of prints, drawings, and book illustrations, and he claimed he would only truly master his art if he lived past a hundred. His designs shaped the Japanese print tradition and later stunned European artists, feeding directly into Impressionism and modern design. Hokusai's blend of bold pattern, close observation, and restless energy still feels strikingly alive.