Onmayagashi yori Ryōgoku-bashi yūkei
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
Artwork Description
Dusk settles over Onmayagashi along the Sumida River. A ferry drifts across the water, Ryōgoku Bridge stretches in the background, and Mount Fuji appears small and distant, almost a silhouette against the fading light. The scene is quiet, suspended between day and night.
The sky darkens in a subtle black gradient, while the water deepens into layered blues. Most figures on the boat turn away or lower their gaze, their faces barely visible. Blue contour lines define their forms, drawing the viewer into the same direction of sight. Rather than observing the passengers, we share their perspective, looking outward into the approaching night.
Although often described as a sunset view, the work captures the moment after the glow has faded, when color dissolves into a restrained monochrome world of blue. In this and other early prints of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Hokusai employed the newly imported pigment known as Berlin Blue. Its depth and saturation allowed him to explore atmosphere in unprecedented ways, reflecting his curiosity toward new materials and techniques.
About Katsushika Hokusai
Katsushika Hokusai was one of the most influential ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period. Active as both painter and printmaker, he expanded ukiyo-e beyond portraits of actors and courtesans into landscapes, nature, and scenes of daily life.
His series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji became one of the most celebrated achievements in Japanese printmaking. Hokusai’s work profoundly influenced European artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the nineteenth-century wave of Japonism.
Reproduction
This work is a 20th century lithographic reproduction of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
It is not an original Edo period woodblock print, but a later limited edition lithograph.
Hand printed and numbered 180/300 in pencil on the lower margin.
Details
Medium: Lithograph
Edition: 180/300
Size: 410 mm × 600 mm
All artworks are sold as shown in the photographs.
