Hokusai Maximus

With »The (almost) complete HOKUSAI«, the Cologne-based art book publisher TASCHEN has made an ambitious attempt to unite the extensive life’s work of the Japanese painter and woodcut artist Hokusai in one volume, whereby »unite« is to be understood here, of course, more in the sense of »thoroughly, conscientiously document«.

Author Andreas Marks, an internationally recognized expert on Japanese art, in particular on ukiyo-e prints, writes in the introduction that, in spite of the best estimates, no one has actually made a serious attempt to count Hokusai’s surviving works. Not only the artist’s extraordinary productivity, but also the major problem of attribution, among other things, represented major hurdles. While researching this colossal collection, he himself tried to exclude paintings, prints and drawings with dubious signatures or seals, as well as works that could have been executed by his students in the master’s style. »With these rules in mind, and with the requirement to count multi-page prints as one work, as well as counting every single book illustration I could find, I managed to document almost 7,200 works that can be attributed to Hokusai with certainty. A selection of almost 800 of these works is presented in this book«, summarizes Marks and releases the reader into Hokusai’s world—to whose tangibility and understanding he provides a guide in the form of a fascinatingly detailed monograph on 722 pages.

Structured into life and creative phases, the book guides the reader through the life and work of the great Japanese artist. Hokusai (1760-1849) was a Japanese painter and woodcut artist of the Edo period (1603-1868), who became known above all for his iconic series »36 views of Mount Fuji«. His best-known work from this series, »The Great Wave of Kanagawa«, shows a huge wave in front of Mount Fuji—In March 2023, a print of his world-famous woodblock print was auctioned for 2.76 million US dollars. As a master of ukiyo-e printmaking, he had a profound influence on both Japanese and Western art, particularly in the Impressionism movement.

Compiled in clearly defined sections, the art book is a trusted guide through Hokusai’s life and work, whereby the depth and quality of the content is actually more reminiscent of a scholarly volume of works, were it not for the focus on large-format, color reproductions, which facilitates accessibility to such a demanding (life) work. Under the chapter names »The beginnings of an artist’s career (1779-1794)«, »The world of private poetry (1795-1798)«, »The return to commercial publications (1798-1813)«, »An exceptional book illustrator (1814-1819)«, »The creation of a legacy (1820« and »The last years (1834-1849)« one is drawn into the unsurpassed variety of themes and techniques: Landscapes like the Kirifuri Waterfall next to large-format maps of the country roads Tōkaidō and Kisokaidō or from the peninsula Bōsō; double-page illustrations from illustrated books, including sensual, imaginative eroticism (shunga) and drawing instructions such as the fifteen-volume Hokusai manga; and finally depictions of animals such as woodcut series on the theme of birds and flowers or late scroll paintings on silk of ducks in flowing water or a floating tiger in the snow.

»The (almost) complete HOKUSAI« is an unprecedented work between aesthetic-visual pleasure and academic-scientific scope, which is unparalleled even in the impressive collection of the Cologne art book publisher. It transcends the boundaries of a conventional art book, representing both a collection of historical material and a tribute to the passion for art. It is a volume with which TASCHEN makes a confident commitment to the highest possible quality in the art book market. [DM]