Japan style

Résumé : Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was one of the greatest of the Japanese printmakers, painters and book illustrators. This richly illustrated monograph provides a comprehensive overview of the master's life and works, and also analyses his potent influence on Western artists. The core of the book is a series of six chapters, each providing a succinct account of a phase in Hokusai's life followed by a sequence of the finest and most representative works of that period. In addition, seven essays by distinguished Western and Japanese scholars present new research on a range of crucial areas of interest in Hokusai's studies. Finally, a full commentary on each illustration provides detailed technical information and also a revealing analysis of style, colour, composition and motif. With some 7oo illustrations, this magnificent scholarly survey is the first publication in English to make such a rich selection of Hokusai's prints, paintings and drawings available to a wide public, revealing his mastery of line and colour to full advantage, and demonstrating the extraordinary range and quality of his achievement. This will become an indispensable book for all scholars and lovers of Japanese art.

The art of ukiyo-e (the floating world) originated in the city of Edo (1603?1867, now Tokyo), when the political and military power of Japan was in the hands of the shoguns. Comprising six essays, six plate sections and over 600 illustrations this beautiful book provides a perfect introduction to the art of this period. The paintings, scrolls and prints reproduced here demonstrate not only the new urban pleasures of the theatre, restaurants, teahouses and geisha, but also Japan?s love of nature and tradition. Professor Calza?s accessible style provides a fascinating yet scholarly study of such masters as Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro.