Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎

In the Tōtōmi Mountains (Totomi sanchū)

Maker

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (Japanese, 1760-1849, b. in Edo, Japan)
Nishimuraya Yohachi 西村屋与八 (Japanese, 1759-1869), publisher

Title

In the Tōtōmi Mountains (Totomi sanchū)
from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) 富嶽三十六景　遠江山中
Fugaku sanjurokkei

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

ca. 1833

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink and color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Image: 24.8 x 36.7 cm (9 3/4 x 14 7/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Zen Hokusai Iitsu hitsu

Seals: Publisher's seal | Eijudo

Identification

Edition

Edition: Black outlines of second edition

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

20.1190

Type

Exhibition History

Take Care
Aug 20, 2022 – Mar 22, 2023

Label copy

This idyllic view of workers cutting wood on a mountainside suggests a harmonious relationship between humans and the natural world. Hokusai’s print also raises questions about deforestation in Japan. By the time this work was made in the 1830s, urbanization had already increased Japanese fuel consumption and led to enormous demand for lumber. If forests had been felled without proper management during the Edo period, Japan would be a barren land today. Sustainable forestry practices, however—including advances in plant propagation and attention to forest maintenance and harvesting—helped create balance between humans and the land. 

–Wai Yee Chiong, associate curator of Asian art

Hokusai's Mount Fuji
Prints from "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji"
Apr 15, 1994 – May 29, 1994
Hokusai's Mount Fuji
A Selection of Prints from the Series Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji
Jun 14, 1991 – Aug 17, 1991

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (Japanese, 1760-1849, b. in Edo, Japan)
Nishimuraya Yohachi 西村屋与八 (Japanese, 1759-1869), publisher
In the Tōtōmi Mountains (Totomi sanchū); from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) 富嶽三十六景　遠江山中; Fugaku sanjurokkei, ca. 1833
Polychrome woodblock print
Image: 24.8 x 36.7 cm (9 3/4 x 14 7/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 20.1190

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