Bunhen no Fuji (Fuji of Letters), from the series “Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji)”

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Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Bunhen no Fuji (Fuji of Letters), from the series “Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji)”
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by John Bentham. For educational purposes only.
Artist/Maker (Japanese, 1760 - 1849)
Date1835
MediumWoodblock print
DimensionsSheet: 8 3/4 × 10 1/2 in. (22.2 × 26.7 cm) Mount: 10 7/8 × 14 13/16 in. (27.6 × 37.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Professor Franklin A. Sciacca
Object number2018.8.1
Not on view
DescriptionHokusai Katsushika (Japanese, 1760-1849) was a prolific and well-known Edo period printmaker, whose prints (among others) inspired the French avantgarde at the end of the 19th century. This print is part of a series entitled Fugaku hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji). The first volume of this series was published in 1834 and is considered to be one of the world’s most important illustrated books. Hokusai created drawings for the series, which were interpreted into woodblocks by the artist’s studio. The second volume (of which is this plate 57) was published in 1835 and the third in 1849 (though growing scholarly consensus holds that the key - or outline - blocks for this volume were already cut by 1835), around the time of the artist’s death. The poet depicted in this page is thought to be Yamabe no Akahito (active 724-736), whose best-known verse celebrates Fuji.

Additional Details

Provenance 2018: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by gift of Franklin A. Sciacca;
1977 - 2018: Franklin A. Sciacca, by purchase from Ronin Gallery, New York, NY.
Signature Not signed.
Inscribed "AEJ" on mount at left lower margin in pencil; " "Bumpen no Fuji" (Fuji of the Warrior)" on mount at at right lower margin in pencil; "775" on mount verso at lower left corner in pencil. "Ma15" [15 circled] on mount verso at lower right corner in pencil.
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