Rare prints in leporello (orihon) book (55) (reproductions) – Published by Ukiyoe hanpukai 浮世絵頒布会 – Paper – After Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) – “Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi” 東海道五十三次 (Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô) – Japan – 1933 (Showa 8)

Description

Rare prints in leporello (orihon) book (55) (reproductions) – Published by Ukiyoe hanpukai 浮世絵頒布会 – Paper – After Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) – “Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi” 東海道五十三次 (Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô) – Japan – 1933 (Showa 8)

Together with the related print Great Wave, this is one of the most effective compositions ever designed by Hokusai. It is dominated by a diagonally jutting rock that rises from the left over the rough waters of the Fuji River. The line of the rock is continued by a fisherman standing determinedly on its edge, and by the left slope of Mount Fuji, culminating in the summit at the top of the print. The fisherman’s lines rise at an opposing angle, matching the right slope of the volcano and the posture of the young boy who crouches over a basket below the man. The tension of these two opposing diagonals is gradually eased through the sweeping lines of mist beyond the river, until it is finally resolved in the serene horizontal bands of clouds in the sky.