THE ARTIST – HOKUSAI

Katsushika Hokusai was born in today’s Tokyo in 1760, a time when the name was Edo. Although his father made a living making mirrors, Hokusai took interest around the age of 18 in wood engraving. Wanting to further his commitment to woodblock prints, he entered Katsukawa Shunsho school, which was run by a man of the same name who was a magnificent painter and color print designer. What made Katsukawa so unique is his ability to push past traditions. Katsukawa’s focus was so intense that from 1796 go 1802, he produced upwards of 30,000 color prints and book illustrations. Studying hard, Hokusai became quite skilled, producing... Read More...

THE ARTIST – CHIKANOBU

In Asian culture, woodblock prints were extremely popular options of art. Today, you still find people around the world interested in this type of art, being unique, detailed, and beautifully colored. One particular artist of woodblock prints is named Chikanobu. While there are a number of interesting factors surrounding this artist, the most fascinating is his split personality, which resulted in varying styles of work. For starters, Chikanobu was known to create Kabuki theater triptychs. Typically, these woodblock prints were designed using vibrant colors such as purple and red. Included in these productions were various style figures that you would expect from the Utagawa School but little creativity or originality. However, Chikanobu’s other genre was related to history, specifically during the late 19th century. Many of these pieces have become exceedingly popular to include “Snow, Moon, and Flowers”, and “Shin Bijin”. Read More...