Hokusai used at least thirty names during his career. This was not unusual for Japanese[7] artists of the period, but thirty was excessive even by Edo-era standards. Each name marked a new phase: a new teacher, a new style, a new self-reinvention. He treated his own identity the way he treated everything else, as raw material.
Key facts
- Lived
- 1760–1849, Japanese[7]
- Works held in
- 29 museums[1]
- Wikipedia
- View article
Biography
He was born in 1760[7] to an artisan family in the Katsushika district of Edo, modern Tokyo. By fifteen he was apprenticed to a woodblock carver. By eighteen he had entered the studio of Katsukawa Shunsho, one of the leading ukiyo-e printmakers. He stayed for fifteen years, then got expelled (or left, depending on who you believe) and spent the next decade absorbing Chinese painting, European perspective techniques picked up via Dutch traders at Nagasaki, and the decorative traditions of the Rinpa school. Most artists settle into a style. Hokusai kept discarding them.
He was seventy when he started Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, the series that includes The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Seventy. The series eventually ran to forty-six prints because he could not stop. He produced over 30,000 works across his lifetime: paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, illustrated books, even instruction manuals for aspiring artists. The Hokusai Manga, fifteen volumes of sketches covering every conceivable subject, became a reference work that European artists including Degas and Monet studied closely when Japanese[7] prints arrived in Paris in the 1860s.
His tombstone reads Gakyorojin Manji: 'the old man mad about painting'. He chose the name himself. At seventy-five he wrote that nothing he had made before the age of seventy was worth counting, and that if he could reach one hundred and ten, every dot and line would be alive. He died at eighty-nine, reportedly saying he needed just five more years.
Timeline
- 1760Born in the Katsushika district of Edo (modern Tokyo). He began drawing around the age of six.
- 1778At 18, entered the studio of ukiyo-e master Katsukawa Shunsho in Edo, beginning his career designing actor prints.
- 1814At 54, published the first volume of the Hokusai Manga, an encyclopaedic sketchbook that would span 15 volumes and 4,000 drawings.
- 1831At 71, published The Great Wave off Kanagawa as part of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, now one of the most recognised images in world art.
- 1849Died aged 88 in Edo. On his deathbed he reportedly lamented that he needed just five more years to become a true artist.
Notable Works
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Where to See Katsushika Hokusai
21 museums worldwide.
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140 works
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States
The Met's Japanese Art department holds 140 Hokusai prints, including fine early pulls from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (c. 1830-1832) with strong impressions of The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Late works such as Red Shōki, the Demon Queller (1847) trace his career into his late eighties.
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19 works
Vanderbilt Museum of Art
Nashville, United States
Nashville's Vanderbilt holding of 19 Hokusai prints is modest in size but unusual for the American South, where substantial ukiyo-e collections are rare. The group leans on the canonical landscape series that shaped his reputation abroad, giving regional visitors direct access to the woodblock tradition.
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12 works
Tokyo National Museum
Ueno, Japan
The Tokyo National Museum, founded 1872 in Ueno, holds 12 core Hokusai works including ukiyo-e prints from the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series and personal sketchbooks from his final decade. As Japan's oldest national collection, it preserves early-state impressions rarely seen elsewhere.
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11 works
Cleveland Museum of Art
Wade Park, United States
Related Artists
Frequently Asked Questions
How did katsushika hokusai created the great wave?
Katsushika Hokusai created The Great Wave as part of his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series. He drew Mount Fuji at different times of day, in all seasons, and from different angles and distances.How did katsushika hokusai die?
Katsushika Hokusai died in 1849[7] at the age of 89.Is katsushika hokusai japanese?
Katsushika Hokusai was a famous Japanese[7] artist. One of his woodblock prints is even featured as an emoji.Katsushika hokusai art movement?
Katsushika Hokusai was a leading Ukiyo-e[7] painter and printmaker of Japan’s Edo period. He introduced direct observation of nature and ordinary people to his art.What was katsushika hokusai famous for?
Katsushika Hokusai is famous for revolutionising Japanese[7] art by introducing direct observation of nature and ordinary people. One of his most well-known works is his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.When did katsushika hokusai paint the great wave?
Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa was created in 1829[7]. The print is part of the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series.Where to see katsushika hokusai?
Katsushika Hokusai's works can be seen at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vanderbilt Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, and 2 other museums worldwide.About katsushika hokusai?
Katsushika Hokusai designed many surimono, and his pupils also designed more surimono than him. He was adopted at the age of four or five years by Nakajima Ise, a craftsman in metallic mirrors.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Katsushika Hokusai.
- [1] museum Brooklyn Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Cleveland Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Museum of Fine Arts Boston Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] wikipedia Wikipedia: Katsushika Hokusai Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
- [8] book Susie Hodge, Art Used for: biography.
- [9] book Susie Hodge, Art: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Artists and Their Work Used for: biography.
- [10] book Andreas Marks, Japanese Woodblock Prints Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-06-08. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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