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Index
View pictures:
Integral Facsimiles:
- 100 views of the Fuji: 1,
2,
3,
all
- Glories
of China and Japan
- Illustrations of Chinese poetry:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
all
- The life of Buddha:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
all
- The Mangas:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
all
Other masterpieces:
What a guy :
A short time before his death at the age of 89 he wrote to a friend:
The Lord of Hell is also very old. He retires now to a nice home in the country. He wants me to do some paintings for him. So, I will leave soon and take my drawings with me. I am sure to find a little room in a quiet corner of Hell. See you there when you will be around.
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He also wrote:
At seventy-three I have larnt to draw some birds etc. ... At ninety I expect to understand the nature of things. A hundred years old, I will be real good. At a hundred and ten, whatever I draw, be it a dot or a line - it will be alive. Take my word - I try to be around with you.
Hokusai was not a non- or anti-conformist. He kicked the word "conformism" out of his system. He just wanted to have total freedom from all temptations to fit into a scheme, into given ways of thinking, of taking advantage by "going along the usual paths". Nothing could be more un-Japanese. Only as an artist he could live and think and paint like this. He used his freedom for a life of learning and teaching. Some painters like Hokusai, van Gogh, Picasso, Dali were always teaching. Teaching us new things to see, new ways to observe. In many mangas, Hokusai described roofs, wheels etc. For a moment he was even putting his ambitions as an artist to the side. He not only wanted to be independent of the society, but also of his own profession. Others like Utamaro, Gauguin, Raffael made beautiful objects, but they did not teach.
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