The impressive depiction of the Fuji with the prominent red lightning in the foreground was created around 1831 and is considered not only as one of Hokusai's masterpieces, but generally as an outstanding piece of the art of woodblock printing.

Like the "Great Wave off Kanagawa", the woodblock print forms part of the famous series "36 views of Mount Fuji", which was created by the Japanese painter and master woodblock-printing artist Hokusai at the age of 70 at the height of his skilfulness. Japan's highest mountain, the Fuji, which is revered as sacred, can be seen on all coloured woodblock prints of this series; frequently in the background, in different seasons and from very different places.

The newly acquired coloured woodblock print is an early, very well-preserved print of marked freshness of colour, produced from the original printing plates cut in 1830/31. One characteristic of the early prints of this series is that there are blue outlines, for printing which a mixture of indigo and Prussian blue was used, with the latter having arrived in Japan only a few years before.

The woodblock print was examined material-scientifically in contactless manner at the Institute of Conservation (IBR) of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, using spectroscopic methods, X-ray fluorescence and imaging methods. A comparison of the results with current research data on woodblock prints by Hokusai from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums allows for dating the work around the year 1831.

Bavaria's Minister of the Arts Markus Blume stresses:

Libraries open windows beyond our own intellectual and cultural homeland: The Japanese collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek offers an impressive insight into Japanese culture. I am pleased that the collection is growing by an important work through the acquisition of a woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai.

The Japanese collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek comprises around 90,000 printed volumes, 100 manuscripts and 900 single-sheet prints. It features outstanding single pieces and contains a multitude of rare works which are richly illustrated with coloured woodblock prints.
https://www.bsb-muenchen.de/sammlungen/asien/sprachen/japanisch/

Press release for download  (PDF, 61 KB)

Contact

Dr. Thomas Tabery
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Oriental and Asian Department
Ludwigstrasse 16, 80539 Munich
Phone  +49 89 28638-2656
tabery@bsb-muenchen.de

Peter Schnitzlein
Press and Public Relations
Phone  +49 89 28638-2429
presse@bsb-muenchen.de