The first print in Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, and a masterclass in the light-sensitivity of works on paper.
Artist
Katsushika Hokusai
Date
c. 1830–1833
Medium
Colour woodblock print
Dimensions
25.7 × 37.9 cm
Location
Impressions held worldwide
History
What the record shows
Produced during the Edo period as a commercial print, the design was issued in thousands of impressions and travelled to Europe with the trade in Japanese goods.
It shaped Japonisme in the West, influencing Monet, Degas and Debussy's La Mer.
Surviving impressions vary widely in condition. The Prussian blue pigment fades under light, so museum display is limited by strict cumulative-lux budgets and works travel in light-tight solander cases.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
01Published by Nishimuraya Yohachi, Edo, c. 1831
02Exported to Europe from the 1850s through the Japonisme trade
03Impressions now held by the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others
