冨嶽三十六景　尾州不二見原|Fujimigahara in Owari Province (Bishū Fujimigahara), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Katsushika Hokusai

ca. 1830–32 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Hokusai searched the environment for subjects that would produce an unusual effect when combined with the image of Mount Fuji. In this print, he takes us to Owari (present-day Aichi Prefecture), which is one of the western most locations from which Mount Fuji is visible. Having come all this way, Hokusai puts the mountain, now greatly diminished in size by distance, in the center of a great circular frame formed by the walls of a huge barrel being constructed by a cooper. Thus, the great symbol of eternity is amusingly reduced to a tiny triangle set within a large bottomless barrel.

Artist

Katsushika Hokusai

Date

ca. 1830–32

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936