Hokusai Exhibition – Beyond the Great Wave

Katsushika Hokusai is widely known as one of the greatest Japanese painters as well as an influential artist overall. He never stopped producing amazing art pieces until his death, at 90 years old. Beyond the Great Wave, the last Hokusai's exhibition focuses on the last 30 years of artist’s life, his most productive period. A superb selection of landscapes, domestic scenes and of course the Great Wave will be shown along with a series of prints of Mt Fuji Fu-shi (meaning not death), an exquisite depiction of flora fauna along with paintings and illustrated books. There are also depictions of supernatural creatures, such as ghosts and deities. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for you to sail through Hokusai personal’s beliefs, as well as his spiritual and artistic quest, and also to learn more about his artistic development. The British Museum offers you the chance to intimately “meet” the painter through his masterpieces. If you need an extra motivation let’s check how the best newspapers describe the exposition: Daily Mail : “Simply Joyous” Observer: “Magnificent” The Telegraph: “Vivid and Intimate” Evening Standard : “One of the worlds’ most popular artists” The Times: “Entrancing” Hokusai was a quirky person, in fact in his time he was known as a kijin,an accentric artist. However, he was also very meticulous: Hokusai himself wrote parodying Confucius that until the age of 70, nothing that he drew was worthy of notice. Unfortunately, due to some family problems caused by his son’s and grandchildren’s recklessness, he lived for some time in extreme poverty. During this time, he published a series of didactic handbooks, of which Mangaare the most well-known. His works inspired many famous impressionist painters such as Monet, and post-impressionists like van Gogh, Gauguin and Seurat. But most importantly, he is one of the pioneers of modern arts thanks to his ground-breaking artistic spirit, creating a wonderful combination of Asian and European visual art. In fact, in traditional Chinese and Japanese art, the objects in the background would be floating in the space. Although, for his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes the Great Wave, Hokusai returned to the traditional European use of prospective so that the sacred volcano is seen as small on the horizon. Not many people know that Hokusai is not the real name of the painter; it is just one of the many names he adopted during his career. He chose Hokusai because it means “study of the North Star”, which expresses a wish for him to have a brilliant career and also honours the Buddhist deity Myōken. Some fun facts about Hokusai’s life: At 4 years old, he was adopted by a rich family of artisans. At only 12 years old, he worked as a delivery guy for a lending library. He had many aliases, such as Shunrō, Sōri II. He was such a perfectionist and so keen on studying that even in his last days he said: In five years’ time, I would have become a true artist. BRITISH MUSEUM Opening/closing time: every day, from 10.00 to 17:30; on Friday from 10:00 to 20:30 (if you want to spend an enriching evening). HOW TO ARRIVE Tube: Tottenham Court Road station // Holborn station Bus: 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 98, 242 : New Oxford Street station; 10, 14, 24, 29, 73, 134, 390 : Tottenham Court Road (north); or at Gower Street (south). 59, 68, X68, 91, 168, 188: stop at Southampton Row. Ticket Price Adults: £12 If you are a student remember to mention it at the ticket desk.