African, Asian & Oceanic Art S. Series

Hokusai

by Gian Carlo Calza, Matthi Forrer, and Roger S. Keyes

Published February 1989

This big and beautiful book presents a comprehensive survey of the work of one of Japan's greatest and most influential artists, together with a collection of essays that focus on a key aspects of the master's career. The book opens with an introductory essay by Gian Carlo Calza presenting an overview of the changing world into which Hokusai was born and through which he lived. This is followed by a series of essays, composed by distinguished Western and Japanese scholars, that present new research on a range of crucial areas of interest in Hokusai studies.

These form a context for the core of the book, which embodies a retrospective of Hokusai's entire career, divided into seven chapters. Each chapter provides a succinct account of a phase in Hokusai's life, followed by a series of the finest and most representative works of that period. Great care has been taken throughout to choose for reproduction the best-preserved original prints that reveal Hokusai's mastery of line and colour to full advantage.

This magnificent pictorial survey of Hokusai's prints, paintings and drawings is the first publication in English to make such a rich selection widely available, and to demonstrate the extraordinary range and quality of Hokusai's achievement. The final component of the book is a detailed scholarly commentary on each illustration that provides not only the necessary technical information but also a revealing analysis of style, color, composition and motif.

Hiroshige

by Matthi Forrer

Published 1 July 1997

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) holds a place in the history of art as one of the greatest masters of the wood-block print. This is an overview of the accomplished artist who, together with Hokusai, was the leading creator of landscape imagery in Japanese printmaking. If Hokusai is recognized for his bold compositions and clearly defined forms, Hiroshige is the master of the passing moment - the artist of mist, snow and rain. The immense popularity of Hiroshige's prints meant that they were continually reprinted, wearing down the woodblocks. For this work every effort has been made to reproduce only the finest early impressions. Each plate is provided with a commentary by Matthi Forrer who, in an introductory essay, examines Hiroshige's life and work, assessing his place in Japanese art and making important revisions to the generally accepted chronology of his oeuvre. Other essays draw attention to aspects of Hiroshige's life and work which have often been overlooked, and place Hiroshige and his art in their social and political context. The volume also includes maps, a chronology, a glossary and a bibliography.