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Takamizawa Mokuhansha; printmaker
Overview
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku Sanjūrokkei) is a series of landscape prints by the great Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions. Despite its name, it actually consists of 46 prints, with 10 of them being added after the initial publication.
The series was produced from c. 1830 to 1832, when Hokusai was in his seventies and at the height of his career, and published by Nishimura Yohachi. Among the prints are three of Hokusai's most famous: The Great Wave off Kanagawa (or The Great Wave); Fine Wind, Clear Morning; and Rainstorm Beneath the Summit. The series has been described by Gian Carlo Calza as the artist's "indisputable colour-print masterpiece". This print is no. 12 in the series, and depicts a view of Mount Fuji at sunset, seen from the Onmaya Embankment. Several passengers are crossing the Sumida river in the foreground ferry, many of them gazing at the distant, sacred mountain. To the left is the Ryōgoku bridge and with other boats nearby, including ferries and pleasure boats (Yakatabune), the latter identifiable by their large prows.
This print is an accurate copy published by the celebrated Watanabe Shōzaburō and dates from the mid-20th century; it bears the seal of the publishing house. The other Hokusai print from this series currently in the Te Papa collection, Viewing sunset over the Ryogoku bridge from the Onmaga embankment (1955-0004-1) is also very likely a Watanabe production of the same period.
Sources:
Wikipedia, 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-six_Views_of_Mount_Fuji
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art May 2019